Growing up in the predominantly Catholic Philippines, I vividly remember how the people religiously observed the season of Lent. The intensity of the observance builds throughout the season that culminates with Holy Week. Everyone in the Philippines seemed to participate in the observance of Lent, regardless of their religious traditions.

I remember my mother asking each of us (I am one of 13 children) what we will be "giving up" for Lent each year. She would seem to hone in on the area in our lives that needed radical change, whether it was lying, smoking, overeating or our attitudes, and encourage us to make a change during the season of Lent. And we did try. Having that kind of experience growing up in an Asian culture has helped shape my own faith journey, even here in the United States.

Lent is a time for an intense consideration of new possibilities offered to us through Jesus Christ, and their implications for us in practical living. Christian tradition sees Lent as a time to cultivate the spiritual disciplines. Traditionally, it is a time of fasting. In general, most traditions affirm that Lent should be a time of self-examination. A wise person once said, "There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, it’s rather hard to tell which of us ought to reform the rest of us" (author unknown).

The gospel of Mark tells us that there is a state of mind and heart that we must enter into in order to prepare for the Lord’s coming into our life. Repentance means taking an honest look into what is really going on in our life.

Repentance means looking behind the masks we hold up for our friends and family and the rest of society. "I tell you," Jesus said, "there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine virtuous men who have no need of repentance" (Luke 15:7) (Of course, the 99 righteous ones who have no need to repent simply do not exist!).

This is a season where I can hear the echoes of great preachers calling us to "Reform!" "Change!" and "Repent!" If you want to grow into the uniquely beautiful and fulfilled human person God made you to be, then you must change your way of thinking and change your way of living.

A story was told of a man visiting his friend. Each night the friend would go to the same newsstand to buy a newspaper. He always had a cheerful greeting for the news dealer. He would say something like, "Nice to see you. You’re looking good. How’s business?" The news dealer’s response was always curt, or even sarcastic. The man observed these encounters for several nights, and finally said to his friend, "You are always so kind to that fellow. How can you be so friendly toward him when he is so nasty to you?" To which the friend replied, "Why should I let him decide how I am going to act?"

For many of us, that is an important key to understanding the kind of change we need to make in our lives. Many of us unconsciously allow others to decide how we are going to act. We justify responding to hostility with hostility, saying, "Of course I’m upset. You’d be upset too if you had this so-and-so to deal with."

But that means we admit that our life is being controlled by outside forces rather than the spiritually nourishing force within.

Wherever you are spiritually this moment; whether your life experience has been empty, barren and fruitless, as long as you live and breathe you can change all that. By the grace of God, you can choose to transfer control of your life from the forces "out there" to the divine force that is within you. You can make that 180-degree turn from insensitivity and indifference to understanding and caring. Gentleness of spirit, understanding, loving and caring are some of the growth characteristics of the fully functioning person.

The living, loving presence of God flows within you. You can keep it turned off or you can turn it on. The choice is yours.

The Rev. Randolph Palada is pastor at Gilbertsville Baptist Church.