Lent...Day One

This is my first time participating in Lent and I’m very excited.  Growing up Baptist we typically did not recognize Lent, however, my current church, which has Presbyterian ties, not only acknowledges Lent but also has pledged to spend the time building a strong sense of community development.  So here is my unofficial official Lent commitment:

• Grow in community with my church as well as friends and family
• Limit TV intake drastically.  I mindlessly watch TV after work until bed way too often.  The only time the TV will be watched is in the morning for the news, Basketball games, and if invited to watch TV in company by anyone other than my roommate or immediate family.
• No cheese.  None at all.
• No meat on Fridays.

I’ve never been a big fan of Lent being practiced for personal gain so each of these promises have been made after much prayer and consideration of how each of them improves my walk with God.  TV does nothing but take time away from me that I should be spending in prayer and meditation.  You might ask though why cheese? Why meat?  I’m currently taking very mindful and watchful steps to improve my health and body (i.e. my new Asian diet and kickboxing) and cheese really is not the best thing for you (especially the amount I eat).  My motivation to improve my body is not for superficial gain; I love the way I look, curves and all, and I’ll be the first to tell you.  Of course it has taken years to come to the point of loving the way I look and I’d be lying if I said I reached the conclusion on my own.  The conclusion honestly arose from a memorable comment by my best friend.  He tends to be a bit picky when it comes to looks and for some reason his comment turned into my own personal breakthrough.  Anyways, my motivation is that my body is not what it could be and as my soul’s dwelling place—I need to keep it up to par.  The meat stems from the traditional practice of Lent and I’m choosing to follow it out of respect.

So today, I embark on my first Lent...TV and cheese, I already miss you.

And before I head out to the Ash Wednesday service here is a bit of Lent history:

Purpose of Lent—to prepare through prayer, repentance, almsgiving, and self-denial for the commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus

40 Days—derives from the 40 days of temptation that Jesus spent in the desert-although Lent is actually 46 days, some people exclude Sundays as a day to break fasting.  It begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes on the Saturday before Easter.

Notable Days—this varies quite a bit so I’m only going to mention personal notable days: Ash Wednesday, the day of repentance; Palm Sunday (Sunday before Easter), Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem; Good Friday, the day of the crucifixion; and Easter, the day of resurrection.   (Of course these dates are commemorative…just like Christmas)

Happy Ash Wednesday!