The Practice(s) of Lent

For those who are not familiar with Lent, it consists of a 40 day time period (excluding Sundays) prior to Easter Sunday during which some Christians choose to fast in order to prepare for the celebration of Easter.  The fast can take a variety of forms, from fasting certain kinds of food to certain kinds of activities.

In my own experience, I have done a variety of things.  I have fasted caffeine and desserts, I have read through the whole Bible, and so on and so forth - with differing results.

This year, I am trying a different approach.  I have divided my Lenten practices into two categories - practices for physical health and practices for spiritual health in order to keep each practice in its context.

With that in mind, here are the practices I am undertaking and why:

Practices for Physical Health

• No caffeinated drinks and no desserts - because I consume too much money & calories eating and drinking these things.
• No eating between meals - again, because I consume wastefully.
• 30 minutes of some kind of exercise 6 days a week - because my life is sedentary and that needs to change.

Practices for Spiritual Health

• Read the whole Bible - a repeat of last year, because I need to spend more time experiencing God's Word.
• No Football Manager 2011 - this is a soccer game on my computer that eats up too much of my time and stokes an unhealthy level of frustration/anger in me.  Giving it up will free up more time to spend with my kids.
• No spending beyond what is absolutely necessary - because I am addicted to consumption and need to break the irresponsible spending habits that draw me away from God.

I have no idea how this is going to go beyond a couple of basics.  For example, I know that I will have headaches for the next few days as my body purges the caffeine addiction.  I also know that reading the whole Bible will take a lot of time.  Other than that I am excited to experience whatever lies ahead between now and Easter Sunday.

jB