The Collage Podcast
Host: Feed My Sheep
Episode: Navigating Lent: A Journey of Growth
Date: March 5, 2026
Overview
This episode explores the complexities of the Lenten journey as experienced through goal-setting in spiritual, personal, and professional arenas. The hosts and guests discuss the deeper motivations and challenges behind practicing Lent—not just as a checklist of religious activities, but as a nuanced and often difficult journey toward spiritual growth and self-understanding. Drawing on personal stories and real-world analogies (like sports and business), the conversation examines what makes spiritual goals uniquely hard, the dangers of self-criticism and judgment from others, and the foundational truth of unconditional love in faith.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Nature of Lent: Tasks vs. Transformation
- The episode opens by outlining the group’s Lenten practice: completing 46 daily tasks or sacrifices. The central question is whether accomplishment of all these tasks directly makes one a "better person."
- Nancy (03:33): “I don't think that it would necessarily make you any better of a person than if you hadn't... If you hadn't have done them.”
- Achievement is acknowledged, but personal transformation is not guaranteed simply by perfect completion.
2. Accomplishment, Identity, and Value
- Drawing parallels with sports (an All-American athlete) and business, the hosts discuss whether achievements define worth or character.
- Caleb (05:53): “Just because I stuck to a certain goal that I had doesn't mean that it makes me better than... Maybe I just got a better opportunity, who knows.”
- The group distinguishes between healthy pride in accomplishment and the misconception that doing more makes one fundamentally “better.”
3. Goal-Setting: Personal, Professional, Spiritual
- Personal Goals: Generally seen as easiest to accomplish (8-9/10 on a difficulty scale) because they rely mostly on self-discipline.
- Nancy (10:47): "For the most part, personal goals would be easier than goals that weren't dependent on somebody else."
- Professional Goals: More difficult (5-6/10) due to reliance on factors outside personal control.
- Caleb (12:57): "There's a lot more that comes into the equation than just yourself."
- Spiritual Goals: Considered the most difficult (2/10), often vague, and outside direct personal control.
- Nancy (20:03): “It's so easy. And I'll just speak for myself. It's really easy... To get in my own way a lot with that.”
4. The Uniqueness of Spiritual Goals
- Spiritual goals (holiness, selfless service) are hard to define and even harder to measure.
- Nancy (21:04): “It's not about me anymore.”
- Caleb (23:17): “There's not like that clear definition of... what it looks like.”
- The hosts agree that while spiritual growth is “the most important,” it feels the most unattainable.
5. Control, Results, and Self-Worth
- Unlike physical fitness or business outcomes, spiritual “results” are largely beyond one's own control.
- Nancy (27:15): “The net result we can't control.”
- Success in spiritual development is not measured by accomplishment but by continual pursuit and obedience—simply “showing up.”
- Nancy (36:21): “Obedience. The only thing we can really control is to keep coming forward, keep trying.”
6. External Judgment & Internal Criticism
- Spiritual journeys are especially vulnerable to criticism from both outsiders and oneself.
- Nancy (33:17): “You will fall short and you will do it, quote, unquote, inadequately.”
- Harsh judgment—whether from church or society—can discourage people, driving self-doubt and potentially leading people away from faith practices.
7. Barriers to Spiritual Engagement
- Many avoid deepening their spiritual lives due to past wounds from religious institutions, feeling unloved by God, or their own sense of unworthiness.
- Nancy (37:07): “They have been rejected by some religious organization somewhere. Like they've had a bad church experience.”
- The team explores both philosophical and emotional challenges in believing, “God loves me,” especially in the face of trauma or injustice.
8. Grace & The True Nature of Success in Faith
- The ultimate message: no one “passes the test” of faith by virtue, effort, or achievement. All fall short, but faith teaches that God’s love and acceptance transcend our failures.
- Host (55:09): "There’s one heck of a curve… What we deserve is trumped in this faith journey in that Christ came and said, while you were yet sinners, Christ died for us so that we should have eternal life with Him."
- The journey isn’t about “checking boxes,” but about embracing a place of belovedness and acceptance.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- Nancy (22:24): “Yes, the most important.”
- Host (24:29): “I can control what I eat to a degree. I can control what I drink to a certain degree... We would say if we're just looking at this scale, these are three components that would make up a decently healthy life.”
- Host (30:20): (on spiritual achievements): “Not me. And that's where it gets confusing.”
- Nancy (39:03): (sharing a personal anecdote) “He had been praying for God to help him to get him out of this situation. And the church said... there's nothing we can do for you. And they sent him away back to that. And he says, now if there's a God that loves me, how could he let that happen?”
- Caleb (47:40): "Just because you failed doesn't mean you didn't become better."
- Nancy (48:45): “Well, I mean, I guess it's just from my upbringing, but failure is burning in hell. Okay, at the end of the day...”
- Host (54:29): “There’s one heck of a curve… But we’re not going to even stop there because that’s flawed.”
- Host (63:50): “So complex and difficult to live in that truth.”
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 03:22 – 07:08: Defining accomplishment and self-worth through Lent tasks and sports achievements
- 08:01 – 15:14: Personal vs. professional vs. spiritual goals: Definitions & difficulties
- 20:03 – 27:15: The challenge and ambiguity of spiritual goals
- 33:17 – 37:09: External judgment, church hurt, and the impact on faith journeys
- 39:03 – 44:03: Personal stories of trauma, rejection, and questions of God’s love
- 47:40 – 55:11: The fear of failure, hell, and the difference between “earning” faith and receiving grace
- 63:47 – End: Closing thoughts on acceptance, self-critique, and the centrality of dignity and love
Takeaways & Final Thoughts
- Spiritual growth is less about performance and more about persistence, acceptance, and grace.
- All people, regardless of achievements or failings, are worthy of love and dignity—an idea central both to Feed My Sheep’s ethos and the Christian message of grace.
- The journey is not walked alone; community and the right support can help counteract negativity and self-doubt.
- Host (67:13): “We’re always on this journey, you know, and just to see you're not alone, maybe, in your thoughts, and you're not alone.”
Summary for New Listeners
Whether you’re religious or just contemplating the deeper parts of human experience, this episode thoughtfully and honestly unpacks how we measure growth—especially during a season like Lent. The real challenge isn't ticking off to-do lists, but embracing one’s own shortcomings, the limits of control, and the radical idea that you’re already loved, failures and all. If you’ve ever felt weighed down by expectations (from within or without), this episode is an invitation to begin again, with honesty and grace.