So now, as Snowmageddon slowly melts into the past the start of the Lenten season is tomorrow. Though I started to follow Christ and pursue my faith actively in high school and college, it wasn’t until after I got married that I started to observe Lent at all. You see, my mom and step-dad are a part of a “flavor” of church that tends to do things in a very stripped-down and plain way. Their tradition us very much in the line of the older Puritans. As a result, there aren’t a lot of “traditions” in their tradition; and we didn’t do Lent ( at least that I knew of), in my head only Catholics celebrated it. When I married Carrie I found out that Methodists do too, and as I’ve worked with the world’s largest interdenominational missions organization and have rubbed shoulders with people from a pretty widely-varied spectrum of Protestant traditions I have learned that a lot of them do celebrate it.
Carrie and I talk about fasting pretty often (we do it less often), and have already been thinking through the things that we’ll be fasting.For us it’s not something about sacrificing to give something up so that God will like us more or anything like that, but a reminder that our relationship with Christ is more important than these things – out of gratitude rather than obligation or “earning.” It’s also a reminder of Paul’s statement:
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything.
We tend to do pretty different things, I tend to be “owned” by things other than food or drink while my lovely is more normal.
So, she’ll be doing some food fasting while I will be fasting from inane stuff on the internet.
That means:
- Tumblr
- Flash games
- “Funny Stuff” Blogs
- “Weird Stuff” Blogs
- “Did you hear about the story of the guy who…” Blogs
I am unsubscribing tonight from them and deleting the Tumblr app from my phone.
Do you do anything for Lent, are you fasting anything?
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I’ve always done Lent, I think it’s beautiful and cleansing, no matter what your faith or beliefs. It’s a good time (excuse?) to do improve yourself. I try to live simply and good, the way I guess we should all be living all the time but never really get around to.
There is a concept in these classes I take for work, and though I try to do it year round, life sort of gets in the way.
The concept applies to parenting, but I try to apply it to life. It’s “intentionality”. I doubt it’s a real word, but it’s just doing things intentionally. Thinking before doing or saying or acting.
So, I think before I move, think before I buy, eat, say, do. Think before I think. If that’s possible.
Oh, and gossip.
Argh, always with the gossip.
It’s such a part of everyone’s life these days, that I think that the true meaning of the word has been lost. I try to give that up every year too.