Snakes shed their skin annually, which led to the belief that they were immortal. In the great Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh, it is the snake that steals from the hero the plant that gives eternal life. So, humans die, and snakes live forever. (You’ll remember that Adam and Eve lost out in a similar deal, in Genesis).
The lemon-scented gums outside the window where I write (Westcourt, in Western Australia) shed their bark in late spring. Their soft pink turns to a deep russet, then the bark splits and falls in great flakes, and the tree emerges, newly cream, which will slowly turn to pink over the summer.
The point of shedding skin is to grow. In insects, this process is called ekdiasis. For a few weeks, the animal is soft and tender, very vulnerable, like someone newly returned from retreat, or renewal. The animal has to hide, in a cave or cleft, until the new skin hardens. But it is while the new skin is soft that the animal grows, expanding and enlarging.
Lent has always stressed repentance (the shedding) and generous giving (the growth). It is prayer (the cave in which we wait) that enables us to survive the vulnerability and welcome the growth.
The invitation this Lent may be to shed consumption patterns that waste Earth’s precious resources. The growth may be in living simply – giving back more to the Earth.
Your gift may be water, energy, recyclable materials, your own time and energy. Those who receive it are the whole Earth community. Reducing your individual and community use of electricity, gas, water, fossil fuels, this Lent will reduce your ecological footprint. There will be more for all.
In fact, why would you return to wasteful patterns once Lent is over? The point of shedding skin is to grow!