Lenten Disciplines

Last Wednesday was February 6th, Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. That's the 40 non-Sundays before Easter. (because every Sunday is a little Easter Celebration!) Many protestants don't recognize Lent but it is important for all Christians for many reasons.

One of the practices of Lent is to give up something for the season as a self-sacrifice in order to take control over one's passions and desires. It is called a fast and can take many forms: no meat on Fridays, skipping a meal, skipping a whole day of meals, not watching TV, staying away from chocolate, etc. Another Lenten discipline is to add something to our lives that we know we need, maybe it's more prayer, reading the Bible every day, doing a devotion, attending church every Sunday, the list can go on.

Lent was traditionally used as the time to prepare for baptism on Easter Sunday.


It's the time to stop doing the things we shouldn't and to begin the things we should already be doing as Christians. (not that chocolate is all that bad for us anyway.) It's just a good reminder that we aren't who we ought to be!


I had promised myself a couple of Lenten disciplines. One of them is going well, a fast that I have kept so far and plan to keep throughout Lent. The other, well it isn't going so well as you are very well aware, it's 8 days into Lent and this is the first post.

Yes, one of my self-promised Lenten disciplines is to blog every day. I didn't even promise myself that it would be every morning, just every day. I've messed that one up already, but I've discovered it's never too late to begin a new good habit.

So here's my promise to myself (and to those of you who faithfully check this blog for new entries), I'll be writing daily through Easter. (After that we'll see if I can continue the practice.)

It's because I want to have a holy Lent, a disciplined Lent, a time to focus on what's really important to me and to you. It's because life so easily and often gets in the way of our faith practice. It's easy to take advantage of the only day of the week to sleep in, to skip a prayer, to have that self-forbidden treat. It's easy to lose sight of the goal of Lent and to replace it with something we really care about, the self. Yet we can do that any day, even if we shouldn't.

So...how are you doing on your Lenten Disciplines? It's not too late to start. It never is when it comes to matters of faith. It may not be Ash Wednesday, but it is still a Lenten day. Make it holy as you work on your own holiness.

Keep a holy Lent!

Peace ><>
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PS: O, yeah, because Sundays are little Easters, it has been the practice of some to break their fast on Sundays only to pick it up again on Monday. I usually forget this myself, but then again, for me it's not healthy to blow the practice of discipline just for a little indulgence. That's what we are trying to over come anyway! So the Sunday thing, that's up to you to ask yourself, what do I really need on Sunday, a little discipline or a little chocolate?