Esau McCaulley ^(iv) recasts Lent not as quaint tradition but as countercultural rebellion—an intentional rupture with secular liturgies and self-absorption. Through repentance, justice, death-awareness, and stripped altars, Lent becomes a formative season that destabilizes the mainstream and directs believers back to grace, self-truth, and Christ’s life-shaping way.

Another provocative reframing casts Lent as divine courtship—God wooing our hearts through fasting, prayer, and vulnerability. It upends default self-effort, inviting readers into a disciplined, attentive love story with the Creator. The essay is a bold, intimate invitation to let formation be shaped by desire, not duty.

iv. I love Easu’s writing!  Five dollars to anybody that can get him do an interview for the new Formation Podcast!