Growing up, our denomination did not participate in Ash Wednesday so I don’t know much about it. I associate it with the ash marks you see on the foreheads of those who attend a church service earlier that morning.
In my adult life I have a few friends ranging from Catholic to Methodist who do participate in Ash Wednesday and the Lent season. From them I learned the modern protestant concept of giving up a luxury for the 40 days of lent (Ash Wednesday through Easter excluding Sundays). I don’t quite understand if the giving up is for penance or to relate to the suffering of Jesus – someone help me out here.
Anyway, a friend and I agreed this year we are adding something for Lent and you are welcome to join us. We committed to exercising in some form on a regular basis from today until Easter. The easy part is you get to set your own parameters. My goal is to do ab work and some sort of pilates/P90X five days a week. The target is 30 minutes. I started Monday because all good habits should be started on a Monday. The hard part is you actually have to do it!
Is it your tradition to participate in Lent? If so, what are you giving up this year?
(c) 2016 Leighann Marquiss
Comments (10)
Lent is a period of reconciliation lasting 40 days in preparation for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Of course…our whole lives are periods of reconciliation, but it is this period that brings an increased focus and also works towards changing our hearts. Things you give up are pretty symbolic and petty, but can hopefully lead to you becoming a better person. I think of what I give up being a promise directly to God. I establish it in prayer and work hard to not break it. I think this period also gives us pause and remembrance of how much God gave up for us and how insignificant our sacrifices are. Remember, “we are dust, and to dust, we shall return”. (what the priest says when he puts ashed on your forehead.)
I think just Catholics get ashes to remember from “dust they were made and to dust they will return” emphasizing the enternal soul triumphing over the physical body hence the conquering of physical tempations and enabling the soul to grow so to speak by some sort of abstainence/fast.
someone had a good quote somewhere, “fasting (or giving up something)without prayer is just dieting”…lol.
I think years ago it was more encouraged to just go without something like maybe a dessert or chocolate etc… but now I think there is less emphasis on that and more of doing for others, or somehow doing something to lead you closer to God like committing to daily scripture reading, praying more etc…. or you could do both an act of spiritual growth and giving up of something.
I think the main thing I am doing this lent is to try to not say every negative thought that pops into my head and stop complaining about silly stuff.
As a Methodist, you can choose to give something up or not. However, we are now members of a Baptist Church and they do not recognize giving something up, but it’s important to me to give something up in rememberence of Jesus. I’ve decided this year to give up Facebook! it’s day 1 and it’s already hard.
Well, now, I look at it like this. Exercising is actually giving up the right to have it my way and not exercise, so I would actually be giving something up. 🙂 Isn’t life all about perspective? Love you, Leighannie! Marmi
P.S. I’m in.
Growing up, my church did not participate in Lent either, so I am not familiar with the details behind it. I have always used these 40 days to give up something I like a lot. Everytime I think about that thing or miss it I use the time I would have been doing that to study the Bible, pray, etc. In the past I have given up media-television, internet, etc. Great growing time in my relationship with God.
I am giving up worrying/stressing over small stuff. Which is certainly easier said then done.
MH
I do not take part in Lent, however I did just start working out about 2 weeks ago. Just wanted to tell you that the more you do it, the easier it gets. I started off doing just 10 ab crunches last monday and for the past 3 days I have done 40 of them in 2 reps making the total 80 per day. We can work out together in spirit!!! LOL GOOD LUCK though!!!
I do participate in Lent. The ashes do represent to Catholics that we came from dust and will return to dust. I have always been counseled to sacrifice something while doing something to bring you closer to God.
So, this year, I am giving up Coke and all carbonated beverages and performing one random act of kindness daily.
Other religions also use ashes (Episcopalians) with the same statement of “…from ashes to ashes…” While it sounds sobering to think of our mortality and that our fragile bodies will someday return to dust, Lent isn’t a time of fear of death or to get ready for death but rather a time to remind us to use our time on earth wisely and joyfully(ie start living this life fully). We can be be well served thinking about those parts of our lives that keep us from being alive and free (ie selfishness, anger, jealousy etc). As for Lenten discipline…. abstaining from something or engaging in something good (charity work, exercise,praying more)are good, but this is not winning point with God since God cannot possibly love us any more than he does already. God is a God of amazing and abiding grace who wants us to be fully alive and at peace. This Lent I will not focus on what I am doing for Lent, but listening for what God is doing in searching for me, leading me and calling me into life.
Hi Leighann, i’m a practicing Catholic, and sometimes even i find it difficult to explain Lent, but i will try to shed some light on it.
The significance of the ashes is that “in the Bible, a mark on the forehead is a symbol of ownership. By having his forehead marked with the sign of a cross, a person symbolizes that he belongs to Jesus Christ, who died on a cross. On the first day of Lent, this signing is done with ashes because they are a biblical symbol of mourning and penance. In Bible times the custom was to fast, wear sackcloth, sit in dust and ashes, and put dust and ashes on one’s head (cf. 1 Sam. 4:12; 2 Sam. 1:20, 13:19, 15:32). Ashes also symbolize death and so remind us of our mortality. When the priest uses his thumb to sign one of the faithful with the ashes and says, “Remember, man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return,” he is echoing God’s address to Adam (Gen. 3:19; cf. Job 34:15; Ps. 90:3, 104:29; Eccles. 3:20). This phrase also echoes the words at a Catholic burial, “Ashes to ashes; dust to dust,” which is based on God’s words to Adam in Genesis 3 and Abraham’s confession, “I am nothing but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27).
Lent is a time of repentance because it is the time leading up to the commemoration of our Lord’s death for our sins and the commemoration of his resurrection for our salvation. (Easter). It is thus especially appropriate to mourn the sins for which he died.
Giving up something we enjoy, engaging in physical or spiritual acts of mercy for others, prayer, fasting, abstinence, going to confession, and other acts are ways of expressing repentance in general.
By denying ourselves something we enjoy, we discipline our wills so that we are not slaves to our pleasures. Just as over-indulging in the pleasure of eating leads to physical flabbiness, over-indulging in pleasure in general leads to spiritual flabbiness. When the demands of morality require us to sacrifice something pleasurable (such as sex outside marriage) or endure hardship (such as being scorned for the faith), spiritual flabbiness may well make us fail.”
i quoted from
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2001/0104fea1.asp
bottom line, no matter what faith we are, it’s never a bad idea to take some time to do some spring cleaning with our mind, body and soul. we know what we over indulge in, or want to prove that we can go without certain things, but what i like to emphasize is that by giving something up, we need to replace it with something else. someone can’t say, ‘hey, i’ll give up candy’, and then start pigging out on pizza. that’s why as kids, we used to keep “rice boxes” where we would put money that we would have spent on candy or video games and give that money to someone in need. it was and still is a way of humbling us and making us realize there is more to life than saturating our senses.
i’m sorry for the lengthy comment, but i also appreciate and thank you for a chance to share a part of my faith with you.
love always, stacy