Lenten resolutions

I love Lent. I think it resonates with my Baptist upbringing – you know, emphasis on sinners saved by grace, sinners who need saving. One thing I like about being in a liturgical church is the marking of the seasons of the church year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost.

My beloved husband isn't really fond of Lent and Ash Wednesday. He says it's a little too Catholic for him, and that's OK. It doesn't bother me a bit. You see, Lent is a period of reflection, meditation, and repentance and my husband is a pretty "prayed up" kind of guy. He reads his Bible daily, and he is a man who seeks God all year long. He takes his wedding vow of loving me as Christ loves the church seriously. He doesn't feel to need to wait for Lent to straighten himself out. It's just routine maintenance. I think he's got the right idea.

Too many of us treat Lent like New Year’s Day, and our “give up for Lent” thing last just about as long as a New Year's resolution. Giving up chocolate for Lent is not so you can lose pounds, it should be for disciplining yourself for sacrifice. I think a better choice is to think about refraining from something that gets in your way of being a Servant of Christ or adding something that makes the most of your time. Replace something frivolous with something spiritual.

Here are some ideas:

Give up your daily cappuccino and put the money you save in the alms box at church or use it to be an anonymous “fairy godparent” to a needy person.

Use your break time at work for personal prayer instead of going out to smoke or gossip.

Pass by the 9:30am tee time you could get on Sunday morning and make it to church instead.

Download the Bible into your PDA and read it instead of playing Solitaire or Bejeweled.

The thing is to have something positive come of out the sacrifice.

And, no, I haven’t settled on what my Lenten discipline will be. I’m sure God will show me something worthwhile. It may even be fun – serious fun, but still fun.

Anything but typical