Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Time for Lent Again

The season of Lent has begun and it is the time of year when believers all over give up a vice or a pleasure for the period of 40 days leading to Easter. Because I live in a country that does not acknowledge Easter, and the majority of the people who do celebrate Easter here belong to the Eastern Churches who follow the Jewish calendar and not the Roman calendar used in the West, I did not even realize we are already in this Saeson. (This year the Eastern churches celebrate Easter 3 weeks later than the Western churches). In other words, I have a few more days to decide what to give up so here are some of my preliminary ideas:

What to give up this year for Lent:
I will give up:
1) eating Pepperoni Pizza, Bacon Cheeseburgers, and Ham.
2) eating all shellfish and animals with split hooves and who chew the cud.
3) I will not work.
4) I will do no chores on the Sabbath.
5) I will not drive my car.
6) I will reject all temptations to drink mochas and American Beer.
7) I will not spend any money at Chipotle or Baja Fresh.
8) I will not watch ESPN or the Food Network.
9) I will only eat sandwiches on Pita bread.
10) I will read the Bible in Hebrew.

Remember that this list is just a preliminary list so please do not feel too impressed with my obvious commitment to self-sacrifice and unwavering pursuit of perfection for the Lord. I will keep you posted on the progress.

On a serious note, it is hard to believe that it was a year ago when the group I used to lead took the season of lent to "give up negative" and focus on doing something positive. As a result of the group's desire to do something positive, they raised around $8000 to build wells in Africa through Lifewater. I recommend that you use this season to focus on something positive. It is amazing what you can accomplish is such a short time.

1 comment:

Mike said...

Oh, where would we be without your wise Lenten example and counsel?