This time of year I find myself saying this often.
Yes, I observe Lent.
No, I am not Catholic.
During our time together you will come to learn that I don't have a
whole lot of use for organized religion. I believe in God, and I am a
very spiritual person. I have been sorely disappointed in the past by
the people who subscribe to organized religion, and it made me jaded, so
I put my faith in God and I base my spiritual beliefs off of a personal
relationship...just me and the Big HT (that's Holy Trinity for the
unwashed heathens reading this :P).
In my early twenties I was very involved in church. I was a good
Southern Baptist church girl. I sang in the choir. I went to Bible
study. I volunteered in the nursery. As I grew older and figured myself
out I realized that church just wasn't my thing. I couldn't handle being
judged, and I couldn't handle the picking and choosing of which
passages in the Bible were "valid" and could be used as ammo to hate
others. I was done with religion, but I was not done with God.
I try to be a good person and I love with what I like to call "reckless
abandon." I try to love the way I think that Jesus would want me to. I
fall short because I am human, but I do try. I don't beat people over
the head with my religion and I NEVER use my beliefs to bash another
person. No. I don't fit into the mold of organized religion.
So anyway...back to Lent. In 2003 I first read about Lent. Since I have
been a Baptist all my life it wasn't something I had really been exposed
to. I read about the practice of focusing 40 days on my relationship
with God, and putting the mindfulness back into a life that is full of
auto-pilot. That first year I gave up salt. I love salt. That year we
had planted tomatoes on our back deck, and since it was a late Easter we
had tomatoes ripen before Lent was over. I ate my first tomatoes that
year without salt and they were disgusting. Haha! I made it, though.
After that year I went through some really significant life changes, and
I didn't observe Lent again until 2009. In 2009 I decided to give up
alcohol. By that time in my life I had become what I called a "regular"
drinker. There were other, more honest ways to describe the habit I had
developed, but that's another blog for another day. 2009 was the year
that Lent probably saved my life. I made it 9 days without alcohol, and I
realized then I had a problem. After 2009 I again had a period of
several years where I didn't observe Lent. I was giving up alcohol for
good, and that took all of my focus and attention. In 2012 I was
pregnant and I decided to give up all eating out. That was crazy,
right? Well, I did it and it was amazing. I benefited so much from
avoiding all that restaurant and fast food crap and spent the last few
weeks of my pregnancy super healthy!
Here are the reasons I observe Lent...
1) It really allows me to refocus and recenter. It's crazy how giving up
just one thing can make you so mindful of so many other things. This
year I gave up processed food, and every time I reach for something to
eat or even get hungry I am mindful of the things I can not have. That
makes me immediately grateful for what I can have. It's an automatic
reset.
2) It helps me to remember what my needs are, versus my wants.
3) It helps me to confront my weaknesses.
4) It is a stark reminder that ALL relationships go through seasons of trial and deprivation as well as seasons of joy.
Life tests me every day, and it is full of challenges and temptation. My
patience and my resolve are tested constantly. Lent is a chance for me
to take control of one small variable in my life for a period of 46 days
and commit that one thing to God. I can take that want and desire for
that particular thing and lay it down at the feet of the One who laid
down everything for me.
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