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Try Doing Something For Lent Instead of Giving Up…

So, the other concept of Lent that I have seen around the web these days is to take up doing something different during this season.

Some of the suggestions are fairly simple, and some are more challenging. The idea is that as Jesus went into the wilderness for the time of temptation, and as we contemplate His journey on to the cross, we should be moved to act for justice and for others.

We should. That is a valid aspect to Lent, I think.  So, I found some links that are pretty helpful.  The first one is from the UK. (Most of these are from varying years). I found this yesterday when I was thinking on Lent and Love…and I googled Lent Love.

I really like this. There are ideas here that work for the whole family, for individuals or for churches. There are great ideas and resources for helping the kids be involved in Lent. I’m a little too late to really get this going for this year, but am marking it for next year…there are still some things that are worth maybe thinking on for this year. Check it out:  Live Lent

This site has, well 101 practical fasting ideas for lent...Some of the ideas are for giving things up, but some are for doing different things during Lent. Worth reading through.

This next one is from the National Catholic Register. This one is really interesting for those who are involved in the arts or are moved by movies. This is about Lenten Films.

Along the lines of the last link, here’s a link to NoiseTrade and a project of Lenten Hymns. You can get them for as little as $1.
Now, along the lines of being moved to justice during Lent, the next two links I think are pretty helpful. Again, these might be things to set you up for next year, but still some things we can do for this year.

First, World Vision. They have some great things to look through and give you ideas for how to pursue Jesus and justice in this Lent.

Second, a group called Steps of Justice. This is a group that came from folks who were with YWAM. They wanted to be able to move toward more justice for the groups they became aware of through YWAM.They have a section on the website where you can post responses of the steps you are taking in your Lent journey. And they have a prayer guide…it’s a 30 day guide, so could be used any time. Maybe something for next year?

With that, I’m off to build our red neck tornado shelter. We only have one little bathroom downstairs, so it’s to tight now to get all 4 kiddos, dog and myself into the “shelter”. Dragging down a few mattresses to extend things today. Pretty good chance of tornados in our area…prayers always appreciated as these stir fear and can of course be deadly.  Maybe I’ll post pictures of the shelter tomorrow 😉

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Lent and Love.

Lent and love…not concepts that we often think of together, but they’ve been coming together more closely for me lately. Maybe it is simply that I am a little more aware during this Lenten season and the connection seems true and right.

The other day I was holding Madeleine and she was giggling and laughing, and I would laugh….and she would laugh in response. Her eyes lit up and she laughed with them as well as her little chortling laugh-out-loud delight. It is impossible to convey the emotions of parents in these moments. There was delight that welled up within me just in seeing her delight.

There is love that is awakened in us as parents that is unlike anything else. And it is returned in our infants especially. They delight in us.

Anna, one of my favorite bloggers, wrote about her experience as a new mom and this awareness. I really liked this:

They say that becoming a parent changes everything, but what I think those people missed when they said that was the fact that being a parent changes you profoundly. It doesn’t just shake up your life (it does) or cause you realize that sleep is over-rated (it’s not, but you really can function on far less than you think!), but if you listen to your baby, they will explain love to you in ways that you haven’t known since you were a baby.

She’s right. It disarms you. Even if you are not a parent…if you are around little ones you can see that they love unabashedly and without any fear. It is wonderful.

What does this have to do with Lent? Well, it has to do with what we are to be thinking on.

Jesus went to the desert to face temptations and to be tested as He entered His ministry. He already knew He was taking the first steps to the cross. He knew where the road was going to lead and He knew what was required of Him to bring about our salvation.

But He loved us.

Unabashedly and without fear and without insecurity and without all the baggage we bring.

I know that our attempts at Lenten fasting may seem silly. Some seem sober and respectable. Still…it is just us, attempting to do something to awaken our spiritual eyes to look differently at the way we live and who we are. That is all on our side…we’re trying to do something. And that smacks against what this journey of Jesus is all about….His grace for us.

So, today I’m dwelling on this meeting of Lent and Love. I have already said that I do not think giving up anything will impress God and shouldn’t be done with that intent. But, I do think that He delights in our desire to please Him and to know Him.

Facebook. Thin Mint cookies. TV. Soda. Luxuries. Meat.

Giggle. Laugh. Bat your eyes. Respond to your Father with delight and desire to engage and know. And I believe He delights in us.

“1 The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.”

Zephaniah 3:17

Because Lent is about preparing ourselves to experience Good Friday and Easter…about thinking on Jesus’ journey in the wilderness…it is sober. I don’t want to make it less than what it should be. Still, I think at it’s core it is about love.   Huffington Post is doing a series on Lent, and this quotation from one of the first articles was part of this thinking for me:

“Lent is not 40 days of misery to be forgotten with the first sip of that illicit latte. It’s our preparation for the Resurrection; our chance to grow spiritually before we once again proclaim that the love of Christ overcame even death.”

Don’t be distracted by the details and miss the whole picture. Delight in God in this season. Even in sobriety and with sacrifice…delight that it is the love of Christ that overcame death. For God so loved the world….

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The Silly Practice of Fasting from Facebook…

In the life of Christian discipleship, we are formed less by grand spiritual gestures—such as the occasional three-week silent starvation-fast retreat—and more by the small choices we make daily to embrace the contours of the Jesus-patterned life.
 
So maybe forsaking chocolate for forty days won’t change the world.  It can, though, change me.  It can change you.  Each time we sacrifice in order to identify with Christ, or move in synch with Jesus into the world even though we feel entirely incompetent doing it, or when we embrace a holy practice for the sake of the kingdom, we are transformed a teeny bit more into his likeness.

I didn’t write anything yesterday…I have something brewing in my mind, but it has not come together yet, so I’m waiting. In the meantime, I found  some more gems of articles about Lent. It is somewhat staggering how many articles are out there. The nuber of us writing about our journeys. The number of people writing, period…that is rather staggering.

The quotation above is from Margot Starbuck and the rest of her article is worth reading. I like the little bit above though. I know that it sounds silly to friends who are not Christians that we are giving up FaceBook or chocolate or soda for Lent. Maybe it is a little bit silly.  Especially when we look at what Lent is about…what we are to be contemplating during these forty days.

Jesus being taken into the desert to be tempted.

Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wild. For forty wilderness days and nights he was tested by the Devil.  (Luke 4:1 from The Message)

He was full of the Holy Spirit.  He didn’t give up soda. He didn’t give up chocolate. He didn’t give up luxuries or frivolity. He did not play at this.

He was led by the same Spirit that filled Him into the wild. To face temptations and to be tested.  This was not a game.  This time in the desert that the Church has through the years come to think on in this time leading up to Holy Week, this spiritual sobriety, leads us to be prepared to remember Good Friday.  We are preparing our hearts, not playing at fasting.

I have to be honest, looking full-on at Jesus as He is tempted and ultimately as He comes to the Cross, is difficult. It is easier to think about how spiritual it is to give up Facebook or chocolate.  It is humbling to think on all of this because it involves me.

We’ve all thought about Jesus thinking of us on the Cross. We’ve been encouraged to do so. It’s true, though. That’s what we believe.  He knew.

He knew me. He knows me.

This is not frivolous.  Even if it is simple and we giggle some, maybe we are able to take offer this simple act of sacrifice so that we can encounter the Living God. It can be slightly frightening. Encountering the Living God.

We have more time. Lent is still settling into our souls. The simple things we have set in place to train ourselves to think on Him…they are settling in. Maybe we’ve faltered a little and wondered if it was silly to attempt this. It’s not. It’s serious business…contemplating the temptations of Jesus and the journey to the Cross (ahhh…..but, Easter.).

Whatever it is that you felt led to give up…stick with it, even if it is little or seems silly. Has it made you think more about Jesus? Has it caused you to pause. Have you filled the absence with a space for the Spirit to lead you? There’s still time….preparing our hearts for Holy Week. Making space this season to encounter the Living God.

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Messy Monday…Reality strikes on Mondays.

I read an article awhile back on Art House America where the author talked about posting a realistic view of her life. She had begun posting about the messiness in Messy Mondays, and the article I read explained what this was about. She talked about “mom blogs” and how often we try to just present what is the best of us…and that is natural and not altogether a bad thing when blogging. Still…

“In turn, other mothers, regular mothers, tired mothers, new mothers, mothers with sick kids or stressful jobs or people like me who have a very, very low capacity for stress are left discontent, disheartened and wondering what mistake we must be making that our cups aren’t overflowing with these lovely moments. What my cup overflows with is coffee…that I’ve stuck in the microwave 3786493 times because I’m freaking EXHAUSTED and I keep forgetting that it’s in there.”

So, she posted pictures of the messy and the beautiful. Because that is what life is, right? It is messy and beautiful in turn.  I could post a picture right now of my kitchen, but honestly, I just don’t have the desire. Not that I don’t want you to see it…I don’t have the desire to get the camera, take the picture, plug in my external drive I use for pictures and upload the picture and then get it onto this page.

Yep, far too much work for today.

What does this have to do with my current thoughts on Lent?

Well. Everything.

I don’t do anything perfectly. I sure don’t keep the house up perfectly…although I am much better than I used to be.  I don’t keep up with laundry perfectly or cook the best meals all the time or spend my time wisely.  And often on Mondays I am, frankly, lazy.

I’ve spent the whole morning doing nothing…other than playing with the amazing and wonderful Madeleine. She’s been asleep for the last hour and half, though, and I’ve not used that time wisely. I’ve wasted my time and not payed attention.

I don’t like when I do that….but….it happens.

We all get lazy. We all have our moments when our attention is on something it shouldn’t be, and we all get frustrated with ourselves. Even during Lent. Even when we’ve purposed in our hearts that this will be the season we will draw close to God and seek Him and be diligent.

We’ve rolled up our sleeves and gotten about the business of being serious. And, well, if you’re like me, you’ve stumbled.

 

With that said…I’m now off to tidy and do laundry and hopefully work out and get a few things done. And I hope that my attention will be brought back into line. I hope that the wonder that there was an Incarnation will arrest my attention today. I hope that the reality that God walked in the desert and faced temptations will astound me today. I hope that the reality of Good Friday will shock me today.

And that the knowledge that a Living God who loves me. Me. You. Will bring me alive again. Even on Messy Mondays filled with the reality of dirty dishes and laziness.