Lent is our laboratory! To understand what we mean by this, consider the connection made by Franciscan priest Richard Rohr between the scientific method and spiritual practice:

The common scientific method relies on hypothesis, experiment, trial, and error. We might even call this “practice,” just like many of us have prayer practices. Yes, much of science is limited to the material, but at least the method is more open-ended and sincere than the many religious people who do no living experiments with faith, hope, and love, but just hang on to quotes and doctrines. They lack the personal practices whereby they can test the faithfulness of divine presence and the power of divine love.

What are our traditional Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving if not a laboratory in which to conduct the experiments of a life of faith? Just as Jesus went into his desert laboratory to test the God-given hypothesis he received in the Jordan – “You are my beloved Son” (Mt 3:17) – so we are called to test the same hypothesis in ourselves, and to invite others to do the same! Regular contemplative practitioners thrive in this “experimental” space, willing to be sustained by presence and love alone in our prayer time.