Fast, Pray, Give

For Lent, I was considering giving up sweets and alcohol, until a friend of mine on Facebook posted a link to this great Lent calendar. Each day, there is a quote and then suggestions for the day's fast, prayer, and gift. For example, yesterday the quote was: “Easter is the demonstration of God that life is essentially spiritual and timeless.” — Charles M. Crowe And then the suggestions:

Fast from scheduling anything after work today.

Pray: Waste some time with God today. (Preferably not during work hours, i.e. don’t get fired!)

Give yourself a break today.

Some days, the Give portion suggests putting some money into a Fast-Pray-Give bowl, and at the end of Lent, you donate the money to a charity. On Sunday, the suggestion was to fast from lunch, pray for those in poverty, and give the money saved from fasting from lunch.

I like this calendar a lot because it has something new everyday, and they say to follow it, but if you don't stick with it on a particular day, just get back on track the next day. It provides a nice focus for me, rather than the general "I'm giving up sweets" which gets somewhat easy after a few days. If you're still thinking about your Lenten discipline and struggling to find a good way to be introspective, I would highly recommend checking out this calendar and following it with me!

Holy Week

As I've gotten older, I find myself enjoying the pre-Christmas season of Advent and the pre-Easter season of Lent more and more. I like the anticipation. I like the time to consider the impact of these major Christian holidays. For the past several years, I've been unable to attend the weekly Wednesday evening services during Lent because I've had to waitress. I feel like I miss out on Lenten contemplation because of that. This year, however, I subscribed to the daily email devotions published by Luther Seminary and Pacific Lutheran Seminary. These daily devotions helped me get into the spirit of Lent and feel the magnitude of Jesus' suffering. I will miss Maundy Thursday worship tonight and Good Friday worhsip tomorrow, but I will be thinking about the Last Supper, the washing of feet, and the horror of crucifixion. I will be worshipping in my own way.