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He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' - Matthew 16:15
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Lent - How I observe Lent (2009)
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I thought I'd take a little while to share a bit about Lent this year. This account was last updated on 3 April 2009.I've never observed Lent before this year. There is a feeling of "us and them" between Protestants and Catholics in general, and many Protestants view Lent as a Catholic Church thing. But after I read about Lent some years ago, the idea has been in the back of my mind as a discipline to draw me closer to God. The idea of Lent is to endure privation of some sort - usually food - in order to stress our reliance and dependence on God, just as Jesus did in his 40 days in the desert, where he was wholly dependent on the Lord for food and water. When Lent started in the 4th century, the big extravagance for people in Europe was eating meat - that was a luxury item, and a matter of pride for those who could afford to regularly put meat on the table. People observing Lent were called to fast, eating only one meal a day, at evening (probably around tea time), and that meal could not contain any meat. During the fast, one is to use the suffering (hunger pangs, cravings), impulses or temptations as prompts to seek God and pray, drawing closer to the Creator through these frequent reminders. Lent lasts for 40 days if you don't count the Sundays (which traditionally aren't counted, and are days to rest from your fasts), so it's actually 46 days from Ash Wednesday (the start of Lent) to Easter Sunday. The final week of Lent - called Passion Week - commemorates the week of the Passion. On Palm Sunday, Jesus' entered at the head of a triumphant procession into Jerusalem as the King of Israel, foretold in prophecy, who would rise up, unite all people and reign the world in peace. As was traditional for honoring a king, the people welcomed him with a path strewn with palm fronds (a precursor to the red carpets of later European royalty). Maundy Thursday commemorates the beginning of Passover, and the Last Supper, when Jesus foretold how he would be captured and killed by the authorities, then went out to pray and was betrayed by one of his followers who was shocked and dismayed that his faith in him as the conqueror of Rome was misplaced. Good Friday commemorates Jesus' time with the authorities, both Roman and Jewish. The Jewish authorities were envious of his popularity and frightened of what the Romans would do to them all if there was another popular rebellion, and the Romans wanted to keep the peace. The people, seeing their hero chastised and in chains, found their hopes dashed as well, and, disillusioned, they demanded that Jesus be punished. Thus it was that, by the middle of the day, Jesus was crucified, paying the blood sacrifice for all humanity. By the end of the day, he was dead and buried in a tomb. Easter Sunday commemorates the day that Jesus rose from the dead, as well as the end of Lent. An aside: Some churches talk about having an Easter carnival on Easter Sunday, but that's a little ridiculous. While not actually part of Lent, "Carnival" (sometimes called Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday), the last day before Lent, means "giving up meat", and shouldn't be applied to a time when the fasting ends and people can eat meat again. I mean, call it a festival or something else, just not a carnival! While some churches have maintained the need to fast from meat during Lent, many modern churches feel that it is better to fast from whatever one uses as a distraction from God. Thus I hear a lot about people fasting from TV or alcohol or video games or coffee or sex during Lent. That way, when they feel the need to "numb out" by watching another episode of "CSI" (for example), instead they'll push into God, and possibly even deepen the relationship between them. Lent for me So, when I considered "doing Lent" this year, I had to come up with things that I used as crutches whenever I was irritable, bored or didn't feel well, as well as the things I use as a substitute for God. What I've ended up doing was a progressive list of things to surrender in each progressive week of Lent. Week 1 I decided this off of my cuff, so to speak, on a bit of a whim the moment I decided that "yes, I'll do Lent this year". For this week and the rest of Lent, I swore off of any soda or otherwise carbonated beverage. Week 2 It's been a treat for me in the past few months to take my kids out for ice cream on a fairly regular basis. I make sure that we have the freezer stocked with some good Thrifty cartons at all times, and recently I bought a box of cones to go with them, for the full ice cream experience. I haven't yet bought the cylindrical ice cream scoop, but that may be a gift for my birthday. In any case, for this week and the rest of Lent, I swore off ice cream. Week 3 I have a number of nervous habits that I do, and over the years I've become more and more aware of these, along with the verbal crutches of fillers. Some time back I worked really hard to not say "uh", "like" (used as a filler) or "um" in my speech, so I knew it wouldn't be that hard to do that again. So for week three and the rest of Lent I decided to swear off all scratching, rubbing, picking, tweaking, pressing and the like that I do to relieve physical discomfort. Now if a bug crawls on me, I flick it off and pray until the creepy-crawly feeling leaves me, rather than scratching the itch. I'm not asking my wife for massages, and any time I spend in stretching to avoid seizing up like a rusted engine is filled with prayer. Week 4 After weeks 1 and 2, I noticed that I was still relying a great deal on food for comfort...I was eating more other kinds of sweets, since I couldn't have soda or ice cream. So for this week and the rest of Lent, I swore off of all sugar and artificially sweetened items. As you can imagine, this week has had a lot of opportunities for prayer. Week 5 Next week - the last week of Lent - I will not be online recreationally at all. Those who know me will be amazed at the idea that I could stand to be away from Facebook, itsyourturn or Fanpop for that long, let alone away from all three. I have faith that it will work, and I won't die. At least, I'm sure I won't die from not being online, anyway, though it feels scary to even consider being away from my online communities that long. That, to me, is a sign that I have been using my online antics as a barrier between me and God. Hopefully I'll be able to use that time to focus on God, and not just as a nervous wreck. If you see me around town, you can ask me how it's going...and I'll probably see you online again, sometime after Easter. |
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