O the joys of Lent

The Lenten season is upon us. I made a midweek pilgrimage (between meetings) to the ecumenical service to get ashed since I could not make it to my own church.

With the mention of Lent comes the inevitable question what did you give up. This year it's the usual stuff, no alcohol, no sex (not that I'm getting any anyway so this one is just for form) and a mostly vegetarian diet. The one thing that I do not tell people that I gave up is self service. Lots of prayers, reflections, exercises and cold showers are going to be on my to do list.

For me the Lenten season is a time of reflection on all matters. I set my goals for the year during this time the same way people set New Year's resolutions. I look at my past year and evaluate it against my goals set during last Lent. This is not the time for me to be lying to myself. I am free to criticize myself for my shortcomings as long as I don't dwell on them.

Spiritually I look at my relationship with God. This past year I was mad at God a good many times because I felt He was being unfair. Every once in a while you need to blame someone for stuff you don't understand and I took it out on God. My faith did take a beating but I do believe my level of spirituality improves when it takes a beating. I have faith in God. I trust that He will provide and that He will never leave me. Simple sounding til you figure out that He will provide in His own time not yours and you are probably going to leave Him 101 times and return 102 times.

For those observing Lent ... may your time of reflection be fruitful. For those not observing it ... please don't tempt us with the stuff we gave up.

image extracted from http://open.salon.com/blog/bustedhalony/2009/03/10/what_to_do_for_lent