Lenten Thoughts

One of my favorite blogs that I follow is called Testosterhome, written by a Catholic mother of five sons with another gender-yet-unknown baby on the way. I love this glimpse into her life because I can relate to being surrounded by boys and their toys, attitudes and antics, but I'm also drawn to her because of her heart which is so focused on our God of Peace even in the midst of a very busy household.

Right now her family is gearing up for Lent, which I think is awesome. The idea of taking more than a week, or a day or two minutes to prepare our hearts for celebrating Good Friday and Easter could seriously help me to appreciate these holidays more. But when I think about giving something up for Lent, I have to admit that I look at it as more of a short-term New Year's resolution -- something to benefit me, but that I can give up the next month without feeling guilty. And while this appeals to me, I'm not sure it would serve the purpose of drawing me closer to God.

A little research (gotta love Wikipedia) turned up the facts that the three traditional practices "to be taken up with renewed vigor during Lent" are prayer, fasting and giving; showing justice toward God, self and neighbor, respectively. The idea of giving up some vice that may be hindering one's relationship with God is a relatively new take on Lent.

Although I'm not Catholic (or Lutheran, Methodist or Anglican, denominations that also observe Lent), I'd like to take this opportunity to do some of those traditional things -- pray and give with renewed vigor and heart. Although those are both great things to do vigorously all the time, are they really being done vigorously if that's how you always do them? I think Lent may be just the excuse I need to kick-start a spiritual new year and maybe begin some habits that will last beyond Easter. But as for the fasting part, I think I'll give that up for Lent.