Yes or No?

Lent seems to become a time when we are confronted with the word "no." We fast and we give up things and we have to tell ourselves "no" when the temptation arises to forego our Lenten "resolutions." But why are we telling ourselves "no?" Hopefully it is because we're telling God "yes." At the end of Life of the Beloved, Henri Nouwen has a beautiful quote:

God not only says: "You are my Beloved." God also asks: "Do you love me?" and offers us countless chances to say "Yes." That is the spiritual life: the chance to say "Yes" to our inner truth... And at every point of the journey there is the choice to say "Yes" and the choice to say "No."

We try to say "yes" to God in many areas of our lives, especially when we are trying to discern His will us. I think we can answer "yes" to God's question of loving Him in various ways, through our words and actions, without realizing it - but how many times during the day are we conscious of this question and of our answer?

In 1962, The Contours asked the same question, but perhaps to a different beat...