{"id":70268,"date":"2026-04-01T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=70268"},"modified":"2026-03-31T20:03:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T01:03:32","slug":"girl-scouts-always-come-in-lent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/girl-scouts-always-come-in-lent\/","title":{"rendered":"Girl Scouts always come in Lent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Katharine E. Harmon, April 1, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here we are\u2014days\u2014minutes\u2014away from the annual celebration of the Paschal Mystery.  Lent is almost over.  Are we going to make it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s in these last moments \u2014right before we\u2019ve completed the race\u2014that temptation leans in.\u00a0 In my case, said \u201ctemptation\u201d often comes in a brightly colored box, often green or purple, full of delights which just beg to be eaten in their small, neatly cut shapes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh yes, we\u2019re talking about Girl Scout cookies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why, oh why do they always sell coconut or chocolate-covered delights in the last two weeks of Lent?\u00a0 Are they trying to take us all down?\u00a0 To remind us of human frailty? \u00a0Why do they say the serving size is two<\/em>?\u00a0 Shouldn\u2019t it be, like, a whole sleeve (which may have happened at some point in my life)?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, let us not take my own struggles with thin mints as a critique of this historic organization supporting girls.  It is not the organization, or its fundraiser, which is the challenge.  I\u2019m pretty sure the point of challenge lies in myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do I succeed in staying consistent with my desire to pray, to fast, to give alms?\u00a0 Am I constant in my claims of loving others?\u00a0 My family?\u00a0 Co-workers? The people I encounter in the grocery store? Do I do what I say and say what I do with honesty?\u00a0 Do I live out the promises I made in my own baptism?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lent is a long stretch of preparation during which we give up a thing\u2014or take up a practice\u2014to help train us\u2014and perhaps help remind us\u2014of who we are as Christians.\u00a0 Lent is not just about giving something up to see if we can do it.\u00a0 Lenten practices of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving are meant to cultivate a disposition: a strengthening.\u00a0 If we can choose to say no (or yes) to small things, this trains our soul, our will, and our heart to say yes (or no) to big things.\u00a0 Like love of God.\u00a0 Love of neighbor.\u00a0 Love of self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what about those Girl Scout cookies? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You or I may or may not have given up chocolate (or cookies) for Lent.\u00a0 But perhaps those cookies show up in this last week of Lent to ask us: <\/p>\n\n\n\n