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February 17, 2010

Lent: thoughts beforehand

So, many people this season are giving up Facebook. I’ll be looking for something far more useful and meaningful to give up, or in actuality, to take on. For me there is no need to give up Facebook, because giving it up would 1) not be hard, and 2) wouldn’t lead me to think about God.

Food is usually the primary candidate for items that people give up during Lent for practicing and non-practicing Christians. I’m not sure if that’s more because of tradition or possibly because it is simpler to give up a specific food compared to other aspects of life.

I know I have given up my fair share of foods: chocolate, ice cream (a few times), soft drinks (when I used to drink soft drinks), desserts, and last year not buying store bought cookies.

This year? Well, I won’t be giving up any food, but television. Stuck inside during the winter, it’s easy to turn on the television and relax. It’s not hard to find other things to do. That’s not the problem. It will be that moment of getting home wanting to sit down and relax for a little bit and just zone out. Instead of course – it will be something else.

And, I’ll be taking something on as well. I’m continually trying to read the Divine Hours, a type of daily devotion, but alas neglect the book many nights. I’ll be taking on trying to do the devotion each day. Our pastor as well has encouraged each member of our church to recite the greatest commandment (the pastor quoting the author Scot McKnight calling it the Jesus Creed) Mark 12:29-31 each day. Along with that I’ll be reading Scot McKnight’s 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed.

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