The Lent 2011 Thread

[genuinegirly]

Are you going to party it up on Fat Tuesday?
Have you been to any particularly memorable Mardi Gras festivities?
Are you giving something up for Lent this year?
Have you ever "celebrated" Lent?

I'm taking Lent seriously this year.
I'm hoping that this will be a good place to share my process, and that others can join in as they see fit. This thread is in Philosophy because I will share philosophical quotes from religious figures followed by my personal reflections every day this Lent. It is not a blog or a journal because I would like it to turn into a conversation. I hope that others will be interested in sharing their perspectives as well.

There are a few key components to Lent:

Fasting
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are two days in this season that are days for true fasts. Each Friday during the 40-day period is traditionally a day to abstain from eating meat. Since I'm a vegetarian, I will instead focus on preparing simple, from-scratch meals each Friday. I'll share any successful recipes in Snowy's Vegetarian recipe of the Day Thread.

Prayer
I will dust off my rosary and take it with me each morning, so I will find a time to pray a rosary each day. I will walk through the Stations of the Cross each Friday, and find a church that offers regular Eucharistic Adoration. I will sing/play a hymn every day.

Charity
I'll be looking for opportunities to serve. I'm still not sure what all I will do in this category. I need to be careful not to over-commit. At the very minimum, I will set aside the money I would have spent on meals when I fast, and donate a lump sum to a charity at the end of Lent. I may also run the Earth Day 5k, depending on my health.

Scripture Reading
I will install a scripture-a-day app for my iphone. I will read the Gospel of Mark from the Good News New Testament Today's English Version, Living the Mysteries: A Guide for Unfinished Christians, and various online Lenten study guides.

Confession
I'm relatively new to this whole Catholic thing, so confession is a difficult sacrament for me to wrap my mind around. I will write out an Examination of Conscience go to Confession before Easter.

Right now, we're well into Shrovetide. Shrovetide, or Carnival, are the 4 days leading up to Ash Wednesday. It's either a time of debauchery or prayer and confession, depending on your take. I consider it a time for excess... I've stocked up on Girl Scout Cookies, cheese puffs, and ice cream - all things that I will consume before Ash Wednesday. Over the weekend Tt and I partied at the Hofbrauhaus in Newport, enjoyed their Pre-Mardi Gras festivities. Lots of dancing, singing, and otherwise having fun with friends. I even got my husband to dance the polka!

[Daniel_]

We have pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, and as my wife likes to take our daughter to Church we will attend at least once during Lent.

As a child at a Church of England school I was asked to give something up for Lent every year - I don't remember what I did without at this distance though, so I'm not exactly observant.

My birthday often falls around Easter, so I've often associated chocolate eggs with birthdays.

[snowy]

Lent is actually one of my favorite times of year. I find it to be a wonderful way to recenter one's self.

I generally fast on Ash Wednesday and break my fast with a simple meal at the end of the day. I may or may not go to an actual Ash Wednesday service. I went to the one at the church I work at last year.

I try to take some time every day of Lent to reflect on the season, its meaning, and the idea of sacrifice. Protestants generally like to sacrifice something during Lent. I generally try to choose something health-oriented to focus on for Lent. I do not always choose to give something up; sometimes I choose to add something better to my life. However, this year I am choosing a sacrifice, as last year I chose an addition. I am giving up white sugar.

I'm not sure what I will undertake for my Lenten study this year. We'll see.

[Charlatan]

I am not religious so I won't be taking part in Lent. I am posting here mostly to point out that Lent, in many ways, resembles Ramadan. The fasting. The reflection. The confessions and forgiveness. It's all there.

[Zeraph]

At first I thought you meant john lennon (no idea dude...) then lent from clothing. So you can guess I won't be participating. I meditate nearly every day. Nature is my temple. I don't need an archaic book telling me what to do.

[genuinegirly]

Today is Shrove Tuesday / Mardi Gras. I made coconutmilk pancakes for dinner and read the introductory chapters to one of the books I mentioned earlier: Living the Mysteries: a guide for unfinished Christians. here is something that stood out to me in the reading.

The microscope showed us germs by the billion... there is a Life we cannot perceive with our senses. We need to acquire and cultivate an interior sense of that Life... We receive that sense by grace... through contemplation...

I admit I might have glossed over this paragraph had it not mentioned microscopy. I'm glad that the writer managed to catch my attention with this analogy. As I look through a microscope daily to understand the biological world I must also take the time necessary to gain an understanding of the spiritual. The imaging technique for the spiritual is not an electron microscope, but rather through meditation, prayer, and contemplation. As it is essential to experience biological investigation first-hand as I pursue my PhD, I cannot simply read the "textbook" of holy writ's second- or third-hand accounts of God. I must seek to experience the Lord's Grace personally.

---------- Post added at 08:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:27 PM ----------

Thank you to those who have already chimed in! Daniel, all of those chocolate eggs must have made for some fun birthday memories. Snowy, Pancake Day is super fun. I'd love for you to share your challenges with avoiding white sugar. It seems an exceptionally worthwhile endeavor. I commend you for taking it on. I like your twist of adding a healthy habit rather than taking away, seems like a very positive mentality.

---------- Post added at 08:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:36 PM ----------

Charlatan, yes I suppose there are a number of similarities between Ramadon and Lent. I wouldn't have made that connection. Thank you for pointing that out.

---------- Post added at 08:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:40 PM ----------

Zeraph, I think you mean lint.

[dlish]

Originally Posted by Charlatan

I am not religious so I won't be taking part in Lent. I am posting here mostly to point out that Lent, in many ways, resembles Ramadan. The fasting. The reflection. The confessions and forgiveness. It's all there.

id have to agree with charlatan that Lent is the equivelant of muslim Ramadan, except the confessions bit. Though Ramadan has repetence and forgiveness instead.

[Charlatan]

Originally Posted by dlish

id have to agree with charlatan that Lent is the equivelant of muslim Ramadan, except the confessions bit. Though Ramadan has repetence and forgiveness instead.

Repentance and forgiveness is just another form of confession... at least that's how I see it.

[dlish]

yes, without the priest.

[Willravel]

Are nonreligious folks allowed to chime in?

[dlish]

i dont see why not Will.

i had many religious and non religious folk at school and during my university days. some chose to not observe at all, others chose to pick their sacrifice during lent, others like the egyptian coptics went to extremes with their methods of fasting. its interesting to see the contrast of interpretations.

[spindles]

I remember going without red meat for Fridays during lent as a child....which meant fish and chips for dinner - I think the "going without" went missing on that one.

Now that I'm an atheist, I don't really go in for the religious observances.

As an aside, my (Anglican) wife served friends a lamb roast on Easter Friday (passover lamb??) - a few commented on the 'red meat on fridays' thing. I guess the point is that protestants don't necessarily 'do' Lent like the Catholics.

[genuinegirly]

Thanks for the comments, everyone!

Spindles, if they were spending time with friends on Good Friday it seems odd to be critical of the food. I bet her lamb was thoughtfully prepared. As Dlish pointed out, it's interesting to see how people follow different traditions.

Will, Non-religious are of course welcome to share in the conversation - that's part of why I started the thread on TFP and not in some Catholic forum.

Dlish, I'd love to hear more about Ramadon traditions. Does it last for 40 days, too? Are there special traditions that start and end the festivities? Does it represent the days of contemplation Christ spent in the desert, or something else entirely? All I really know about it is that my Muslim classmates wouldn't eat all day, but they would wake up before dawn to make a meal together and stay up late cooking after dark, too. I'd love to learn more.

I'd also love to hear if there are any similarities to other religious traditions, perhaps to the Jewish Passover?

[jewels]

Originally Posted by genuinegirly

I'd also love to hear if there are any similarities to other religious traditions, perhaps to the Jewish Passover?

It's called Yom Kippur. I haven't followed the tradition in years, but it's a day of fasting and reflecting to atone for one's sins the prior year, somewhat similar to Ramadan and Lent.

The fun part is the breaking of the fast the next evening ... talk about bagels and lox

[Zeraph]

I think if you really whole heartedely believed in a religion you should be able to withstand more than that. Like climbing an extremely high mtn with no supplies. Or running a marathon (when you haven't trained for one..) etc. That's just an outsiders opinion though, who doesn't get religion.

[Willravel]

Originally Posted by genuinegirly

Will, Non-religious are of course welcome to share in the conversation - that's part of why I started the thread on TFP and not in some Catholic forum.

Okay.

While I'm not exactly on board with observing the sacrifice of Jesus from Ash Wednesday to Easter, I think there are some parts of Lent that can be taken out of their religious context and applied to anyone.

Self-reflecting, taking stock on one's life, and making amends is a very healthy way of living and can ultimately be very rewarding. While it's not explicitly a part of Lent, the idea of repentance has very strong connections to this part of the liturgical calendar. Who says it has to be repentance to a god? If you've wronged someone, making amends can heal a wound in both of your lives.

Learning self-restraint is another part of the preparations for Easter, perhaps the best known to be associated with Lent. People use the time to commit themselves to a healthier life, like diet, exercising, quitting smoking and such. Moreover, self-restraint can simply be about making conscious changes in patterns of destructive behavior. Self-control is an important part of being an emotionally healthy person.

All that having been said, for nonreligious people like myself, these are things to keep in mind year round. There's no bad time to make up for past mistakes or develop healthy self-control. Maybe the advent of Lent can just serve as a reminder.

[genuinegirly]

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. It was an odd day for me, my health wasn't on my side. My husband and I planned on attending the 7pm mass at the local church, but I was sound asleep for the night before he even came home from work. Fasting happened, only ate whole grain saltine crackers with my meds all day, but that had far more to do with the queasiness from switching meds and an urgent desire not to puke rather than anything religious. Alas, I was not a good Catholic on Ash Wedneday this year. But I did do a little scripture reading in the morning, and I downloaded that scripture-day app that I promised. I found an app that pulls a scripture from Proverbs every day. It puts it into plain language, which makes it even more fun.

---------- Post added at 09:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:26 PM ----------

Here is the quote I've chosen to discuss for Ash Wednesday. It's a scripture from Isaiah chapter 58.

"Deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the needy and the harbourless into thy house: when thou shalt see one naked, cover him, and despise not thy own flesh.

"Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall speedily arise, and thy justice shall go before thy face, end the glory of the Lord shall gather thee up.

This is an excerpt from one of the readings that I would heard if I had attended Mass. The scripture talks about performing acts of charity in conjunction with fasting and the blessings promised for such an act. This stood out to me because it mentions healing: "thy health shall speedily arise." I found it a beautiful promise.

---------- Post added at 09:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:38 PM ----------

Jewels - thank you for mentioning Yom Kippour! I always wondered what that holiday was about. I think I might just start a thread about it to gather more details on how people celebrate.

Zeraph - There would have to be a strong motivating factor to perform tasks like those you have listed, beyond simply proving one's faith. On a related note, I wonder if those who have no faith are lacking it simply because they choose not to.

Willravel- thank you for sharing your perspective. You have plainly stated the universal nature of the central theme of the season.