Lent Check In

I haven't posted for a while on Lent, but that is not because it has been uneventful. I haven't participated in Lent for quite some time, but felt that this year I needed to. Giving up sugar has not been an easy task, but there is more to it. I have a morning routine which includes getting the kids ready for school, making lunches, and making a pot of coffee, usually Peet's Major D. Having sugarless coffee each morning has been a daily reminder to pray and to open myself to God's presence. I've been praying a lot more during Lent and I've had some seriously challenging time spiritually and relationally. It's not surprising. When we enter into what God calls us to, there is often a struggle, think about Abraham. These are the times that require something different from us. Not more determination, but a greater giving of ourselves to God's working in our lives. Following after Jesus is not an easy thing (yes I know all about Matthew 11:30). It's not supposed to be. But in the end there becomes the possibility for transformation, becoming less entangled in sin. That is where my struggles have been. I've become so much more aware of my sin and how far away I am from what God has created me to be. And that is the point of Lent: to allow God to reveal to us the severity of sin so that we can allow him to transform us and deliver us from the death that is sin to the eternal life that is found in embracing the presence of God with us daily.

Clutter Butt

The short answer: Yes! Organization is a discipline that I am sorely lacking in. I go through times of letting everything find its own place on the desk to the opposite extreme of wanting my desk to be completely cleaned off. Lent is one of those times for me. It is a time of cleaning of things out of my life that are only clutter, that add nothing positive to my life. May this season of Lent be more than a furry of cleaning followed by a time of entropy!

Lent: Day 3

The force of habit is a strong thing. This morning my family was going through our normal routine: get up, get the kids up and dressed for school (socks and shoes too?), make sure everyone eats something (but I'm not hungry), get the lunches made (daddy, I don't like that kind of sandwich), get everyone out the door on time for school. Everything is going normally and I make a pot of coffee (Peet's Major D). Sit down at the computer to check some email. Wow this coffee tastes really good! Then it hits me: out of shear habit I put sugar in my coffee. Oops! A short internal wrestling match later I decide to pour out that sweet nectar of the gods and get another cup sans the sugar. Not as sweet, but this is Peet's so it's still pretty tasty.

It is a gift God gives us in traditions like Lent. They help us to get off autopilot and to become more aware of the moment. They call us to wake up. Jesus kept calling followers to leave behind (repent) their normalized lives that made sense for a life that did not, but that was true living. There are many things in our lives that are not bad or evil or anything negative in and of themselves. Rather, they are clutter and distraction. They demand time of us and lull us into a false sense of peace and security. During this season of Lent I believe that Jesus is calling us to go deeper in being aware of each moment we have with Him and that He is truly the same yesterday, today and forever (ht: to my Foursquare peeps!).

Lent: Day 1

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Lent is traditionally a time of fasting and seeking after God in preparation for the great celebration that is Easter. It is a challenging time. Which sets up this post:
Yesterday, not ten minutes after my initial post the following took place:

• Phone rings: This John from Citibank, I'm calling because your payment is 5 days over due on your new credit card.
• Me: What!?!? (In my mind - I thought we canceled that one because we got a better deal on the other one!) OK, I'll send the payment in today.
• To myself: I can't believe it.. @#$#^$$ I am sure I canceled it. OK, where is the info for this card so I can pay it off an cancel it. (Can't find any paper work on it. Oh great!)
• 30 minutes of me digging through files, looking through piles of paper on my desk until I realize that I applied for this one online and that it is setup for online statements. (More @##$@% to myself because I don't know what the account number is.)
• 10 minutes later I find the card in my dresser drawer.
• OK, now I have the account number, what is the password for the website.
• 5 minutes of futility in trying to guess what the password is until I click on "Forgot Password?"
• Jump through the security hoops so that I can log in and make a payment.
• A bit more @#%&^## to myself.
• Then I remember, Oh yeah this is Lent. A time where I am supposed to put aside my own desires for control and find God in everything I do.
• Many more minutes of confessing and asking God's help and forgiveness.

How often is it that I try to do something for God or to grow in devotion to the One who loves me in spite of myself and it turns out this way!

If this is the beginning of my Lent experience I'd better strap myself in...it's going to be a bumpy road!

40 Days of Lent

I've decided to keep Lent this year. I haven't done it for quite some time, so this should be an interesting journey. I first started celebrating Lent when I was in seminary. My Greek professor was an Orthodox Priest and had a great influence on my spirituality.

The fasting portion of Lent is done to remind the follower of Jesus of his sacrifice. The minor inconveniences that that we endure during this season are daily reminders to pray that the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness and that we are to be a part of living it out where ever we are. Traditionally the money that was not used towards the food was to be given to the poor. The fasting of Lent reminds us that our lives are not simply about our own desires, but rather that we are to give of ourselves as Jesus did: denying our own desires that God's desires for the world would be done through us.

I won't be keeping the Orthodox sun up to sun down fasting. Instead I am going to do without sugar. There is nothing spiritual about going without something, as if sugar where somehow spiritually corrupt. My purpose in doing this is that sugar is in so many of the things I eat and by going without I am constantly reminded throughout my day of season of Lent. I'll be blogging daily over the next forty days as Easter approaches. Leave your comments here on your thoughts of Lent.

Today is "Fat Tuesday" so-called because during the traditional celebration of Lent no fat (read butter, Crisco, etc.) was to be used. Fat Tuesday was the day when all of the fat in the house was to be consumed so as not to waste it. So, for me today will be sugar Tuesday. I will not be taking on some form of Mardi Gras like consuming of sugar, but today will be the last day of consuming sugar until Easter. Oh baby, this ain't gonna be easy!