The divinity school has become gripped in an aura of unease and discomfort during the last few days. While angst among Duke students is generally high around March, recent studies have shown that the cause is not due to a fear that the men’s basketball is probably going to get bounced in the Sweet 16 again this year. No, this year there is one thing that is keeping Duke Divinity students up at night: Lent. That’s right, the church season that is supposed to be about repentance and confession is giving most of the student population the willies. Take the evangelical student population, for example. For most of these students, the only interaction they have with Lent comes in the form of a regular belly button inspection. As a result, many divinity evangelicals have resorted to faking Lenten disciplines, lest they be ostracized from the wider community. One anonymous student told the Depressio “Lent was never a struggle for me, until I came to divinity school. Now I have to just fake it in order to fit in with my peers. I’ve tried saying that I’m “journaling” or something similar, but that wasn’t effective enough. I’ve had to start giving up alcohol so that my friends can see I’m committed. What’s even worse is that my beer buzz is coming a drink or two earlier now on Sunday nights – I thought I had lost this childlike experience in college.”
Other students are taking a different approach. With spring time on the horizon and students needing to get into shape for tanning season by the pool, many have given up meat or some other form of snacking. “I figured since I’m already going to be suffering for the Lord, why not work on my love handles while I’m at it?” said second year student Todd Ferguson. “What’s most important during Lent is that I focus on this season of repentance and self-reflection, but also that I look good for those late April study sessions by the pool. I need to be shining like the sun in front of a lectern at field ed this summer.”
Yet another popular Lenten discipline among students has been the adoption of going to Morning Prayer or worship on a regular basis. Third year student Melissa Robinson told the Depressio “In this time of Lent, I couldn’t think of a better way to draw nearer to Christ than by actually praying to Him or worshipping Him. It’s definitely not something I normally do, but sometimes you just have to give it up to God, you know what I mean?” Miss Robinson went on to say “I know it is going to be difficult, waking up early and stuff, but think about how great it will feel when Easter comes and I can sleep in again!” When asked about the tension of celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by stopping prayer and worship, Miss Robinson looked confused and returned nothing but a blank stare.
