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It is Lent already - how did that happen? It's only just finished being Christmas!!
Ive been writing the Advent Blog for 8 years now and the Lent one for 6. If you have been following from the start then thank you and well done. Im sure I repeat myself on a fairly regular basis so I do hope you arent getting bored.😊 I cant remember when I last 'did' Lent - gave something up for the 40 days. I tend to see it as a bit of a fad I supppose. Frivolous and somewhat pointless. But that's only because I have allowed the world's notions of Lent to creep up on me. I've absorbed the subliminal messages that what its really all about is giving up chocolate or facebook or alcohol for forty days in order to somehow prove my virtue or look good or ' be healthy'. But of course Lent is nothing about any of that stuff.
For the past 1000 years Lent has been a solemn and serious period in the church calendar. It is a time for quiet reflection, confession and repentance, denial of selfish desires and a re-focusing on the desires of God, contemplation of the Easter story and preparation for the greatest celebration of the Christian year, the resurrection Sunday of Easter morning.
This year I think I want to get a bit more serious about Lent. Over the past few years I have considered the writing of the blog as my ' daily service ' - in fact I started the blogs at Advent and Lent as a way of trying to keep myself intentionally listening for God and sharing what I felt He was saying. Im still going to do that, but this year I think I want to do something else as well. I did briefly consider doing a 40 day fast. But its so difficult to live in the real world and properly abstain from food over such a long period of time. People think you are very rude or odd or ill if you keep on refusing the food they offer you. I like fasting in that it properly concentrates the mind at specific times throughout the day when you are feeling hungry and thinking about food. You cant ignore the pangs and therefore the reason behind the pangs. Not eating sharpens you spiritually as you constantly tell yourself that there are things that are more important than eating. God is more important than food. His will is more important to me than my own.
Another spiritual discipline of Lent is almsgiving. Giving to the poor. I'm pretty poor myself at the moment so Im not quite sure what I could do in this respect. Maybe I should be sacrificing something on which I spend money and doing something good with that money. My biggest vice is coffee. I do drink alot of coffee and I spend quite a bit when Im out and about buying lattes from various beverage outlets. Maybe I should give up buying coffee for Lent and give the money I would have spent to something or someone in need. ( With the emphasis being on the giving to the poor not on the giving up of the coffees)
And then there is confession. Im not sure that confession is something most of us are either used to or much good at. We in the Protestant tradition have probably lost much of what our forefathers understood of the value of bringing our sins into the light and letting the non-judgmental loving wisdom of a friend or trusted mentor remind us that Jesus forgives us. And that sometimes sins have consequences and repentance requires action.
Perhaps this year in the Blog I shall be moved to tell you about my faults and failings. Eeeeeeek! That might make Blog reading more of a chore than a delight 😁
And lastly there is reflection. Im quite good ( I think) at listening for God's voice and interpreting what He is saying . But perhaps this year I shall expand a bit. Maybe by sharing music or poetry or art which has caused me to stop and think and wonder and worship. Wonder and worship should be at the core of what Lent is all about I think. Let's do some of that together this year.
For the past 1000 years Lent has been a solemn and serious period in the church calendar. It is a time for quiet reflection, confession and repentance, denial of selfish desires and a re-focusing on the desires of God, contemplation of the Easter story and preparation for the greatest celebration of the Christian year, the resurrection Sunday of Easter morning.
This year I think I want to get a bit more serious about Lent. Over the past few years I have considered the writing of the blog as my ' daily service ' - in fact I started the blogs at Advent and Lent as a way of trying to keep myself intentionally listening for God and sharing what I felt He was saying. Im still going to do that, but this year I think I want to do something else as well. I did briefly consider doing a 40 day fast. But its so difficult to live in the real world and properly abstain from food over such a long period of time. People think you are very rude or odd or ill if you keep on refusing the food they offer you. I like fasting in that it properly concentrates the mind at specific times throughout the day when you are feeling hungry and thinking about food. You cant ignore the pangs and therefore the reason behind the pangs. Not eating sharpens you spiritually as you constantly tell yourself that there are things that are more important than eating. God is more important than food. His will is more important to me than my own.
Another spiritual discipline of Lent is almsgiving. Giving to the poor. I'm pretty poor myself at the moment so Im not quite sure what I could do in this respect. Maybe I should be sacrificing something on which I spend money and doing something good with that money. My biggest vice is coffee. I do drink alot of coffee and I spend quite a bit when Im out and about buying lattes from various beverage outlets. Maybe I should give up buying coffee for Lent and give the money I would have spent to something or someone in need. ( With the emphasis being on the giving to the poor not on the giving up of the coffees)
And then there is confession. Im not sure that confession is something most of us are either used to or much good at. We in the Protestant tradition have probably lost much of what our forefathers understood of the value of bringing our sins into the light and letting the non-judgmental loving wisdom of a friend or trusted mentor remind us that Jesus forgives us. And that sometimes sins have consequences and repentance requires action.
Perhaps this year in the Blog I shall be moved to tell you about my faults and failings. Eeeeeeek! That might make Blog reading more of a chore than a delight 😁
And lastly there is reflection. Im quite good ( I think) at listening for God's voice and interpreting what He is saying . But perhaps this year I shall expand a bit. Maybe by sharing music or poetry or art which has caused me to stop and think and wonder and worship. Wonder and worship should be at the core of what Lent is all about I think. Let's do some of that together this year.
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