Lent Begins
Today marks the beginning of Lent. Read more about the history of Lent here. While I didn’t grow up following the traditional Church calendar, over the past few years I have been attending an Ash Wednesday Service (which is the start of Lent) and have grown to enjoy more of these Liturgical practices of the Church. From fixed hour prayers, the Jesus Creed, to now Lent.
As I understand the season of Lent is a time to fast and pray. Many people do this by the giving up of something they do on a regular basis so as to have more time/energy/etc to give to becoming more like Christ. It is a time to draw ourselves closer to Christ. I also understand that some people give up something to connect closer with the poor. One blog writes,
Abstaining from meat traditionally also linked us to the poor, who could seldom afford meat for their meals. It can do the same today if we remember the purpose of abstinence and embrace it as a spiritual link to those whose diets are sparse and simple. That should be the goal we set for ourselves—a sparse and simple meal. Avoiding meat while eating lobster misses the whole point!
Therefore, the picture you see is the last cup of coffee I will drink till the end of the season of Lent. For those that know me they will know that this is going to be difficult. I drink a lot of coffee each day. It is something I use to get rid of headaches, to get me through the day, and to enjoy with friends. I hope to try to use the “desire” to have coffee each day, to “draw” myself closer to Christ. I also think that I must give up ALL coffee and not just “Tim’s” or “Starbucks” as I have thought of doing. I feel this would be like the “eating lobster instead of meat”, and would miss the point. Another plus, is that I hope to save the money I would use to buy coffee to donate to those in need. Perhaps buy some food to give to the Food Bank.
I will try to post along the way to let you know how this goes. Stay tuned for more.