Are you observing Lent?

Norman D Gutter · Feb 8, 2008

I grew up Episcopalian in New England, which meant essentially a Catholic upbringing. Lenten observation was a regular part of the year.

Now, decades later, and in an evangelical demonination, last year I decided observe Lent by giving up computer games. Not a solid observance, but I stuck it out. Lately I've been hamstrung by the computer game habit, so I decided to do it again. Goodbye Minesweeper. Goodbye Free Cell. See you in 40 days (plus Sundays). Maybe this year I'll be able to do without them after Lent, and have some time for writing.

How about y'all? Do any of you observe Lent? If so how?

Best Regards, and missing those hot cross buns,
NDG

maxmordon · Feb 8, 2008

I gave up my iPod. Also I am not eating meat on fridays; I am not usually a really religious person or agrees with all what the Catholic Church says but I consider myself a Catholic

JoNightshade · Feb 8, 2008

I'm just plain nondenominational Christian and I have never celebrated lent officially. However from time to time I will give up things for a period, if I feel I am becoming too attached to them. (AW has been one of those things, now and then.) I think that's essentially the spirit of Lent.

Perks · Feb 9, 2008

I think observing Lent can be a healthy experiment in or out of religious context. I have done it before, but this year, I honestly forgot that MardiGras was upon me.

There was a play, and I can remember which one just now, where an older woman in a group home gives up electricity for Lent and runs around turning the lights out all the time. It's hilarious.

Shadow_Ferret · Feb 9, 2008

We're not Catholic.

JamieFord · Feb 9, 2008

I'm observing my fiancee observing lent, does that count?

Robin Bayne · Feb 9, 2008

Did while I was being raised Catholic, but don't observe it now. However I still can't bring myself to eat meat on Good Friday.

matdonna · Feb 9, 2008

Not yet for me, as I'm Eastern Orthodox and our Paschal cycle doesn't coincide with the West this year. We don't start till March 10th this year. Lent is a huge deal in the Eastern Church, as we lead up to Holy Week and Pascha (our Easter), which is a bigger holiday for us than Christmas. We give up meat, dairy and eggs; have extra services midweek and special themes each Sunday.

Hmmm.....better get my Easter candy quick before it's gone, since there is such a long wait between the two Easters this year!

Jenny · Feb 10, 2008

If you do give up sweets for Lent (which I can't guarantee, but I'm trying) Sundays are awesome. Sundays aren't fast days, so I splurge - cake, ice cream, some treat. A whole day of computer games, Norman! I remember when I was studying, I deleted Tetris from my computer because I had no self control.

rwam · Feb 10, 2008

I'm a member of a Methodist church, but would probably consider myself more of a Quaker. While I didn't make the effort this year, for past Lenten seasons I would try to focus on adopting a GOOD habit instead of suspending a BAD one. It seemed more New Testamentish (OT was more prohibitive and NT was more focused on the positive).

But yeah, just like another poster north of me, Ash Wednesday snuck up on me this year.

althrasher · Feb 10, 2008

I'm actually not observing Lent this year--I usually do, but Ash Wed. snuck up on me (apparently a common theme.)

Matdonna, Easter is bigger than Christmas for Protestants too (and probably Catholics.)

rwam, I really like the idea of taking something on as well. My pastor advocates that over giving something up.

Question: I have a friend who doesn't believe in giving something up for Lent partly for your own benifit: give up chocolate to lose 10 pounds, that kind of thing. What do you guys think?

Judg · Feb 10, 2008

I don't observe Lent because I'm not Catholic. I do think that the spiritual discipline of giving up something that is not sinful can be a very valuable exercise.

Bo Sullivan · Feb 10, 2008

When I was ten years old I gave up sugar in my tea for Lent and the habit stuck for most of my life. I was really slim all my life and lo and behold, I have taken to sugar again. I really missed it so much and now I take sugar in tea and coffee and I feel a lot happier for it. I don't observe Lent any more but admire those who do.

Bartholomew · Feb 10, 2008

Murió la sardina
de los carnavales
ya sólo quedamos
nosotros los mortales

Que tururururu, que tururururu ....

Era muy valiente
era muy mohina
era la mejor
de todas las sardinas

Que tururururu, que tururururu ....

Estiró la pata
rompió sus escamas
con la aleta tiesa
decía hasta mañana

Que tururururu, que tururururu ....

Todo el colegio
llora apenado
esto significa
la fiesta ha acabado

Que tururururu, que tururururu ....

#

I joined some of my Hispanic friends in a very odd celebration, singing and eating LOTS of meat the day before lent started. That's one of the songs I remember--its (jokingly) mourning all the sardines they're about to eat, since they're giving up other types of food.

DaddyCat · Feb 11, 2008

I like to combine penance with something productive. One year I gave up recreational Internet use and spent the time reading the Bible cover to cover.

matdonna · Feb 11, 2008

althrasher said:
Matdonna, Easter is bigger than Christmas for Protestants too (and probably Catholics.)

Theologically, yes, in theory. But that wasn't my experience of the actual celebrations when I was a Baptist, nor even when I was an Anglican. But then it is tricky to generalize about "Protestants" when actually the term encompasses so many diverse groups with different customs...so maybe we're both right.

Also in Orthodoxy the difference in the celebration of Pascha compared to Christmas is visibly so -very- big. In cultures where Eastern Christianity is the official religion or at least the nominal religion of the majority, like Greece, there is not only the 40 day Lent leading up to it, but schools close for both Holy Week (there are services every day, not just on Good Friday) and the week after Pascha, similar to the way they do for Christmas holidays in the West; and the activities are somewhat like they are for Christmas in the west-- parties, family gatherings-- but more focused on the Church as well.

matdonna · Feb 11, 2008

althrasher said:
Question: I have a friend who doesn't believe in giving something up for Lent partly for your own benifit: give up chocolate to lose 10 pounds, that kind of thing. What do you guys think?

I think none of us humans ever has 100% pure motives about anything we do. So why not do something that's good to do anyway and let God sort out any judgment we need for our motives? You could always donate the money you save on chocolate to charity, too.

Besides, our bodies are God's temples, and we are stewards of our health. So if we do something healthy, we are being obedient to God.

It's not Lent for me yet, but I haven't eaten chocolate for several weeks. I haven't lost any weight yet-- and look out, here comes Valentine's Day! ;-)

mscelina · Feb 11, 2008

Apparently I have, but it's completely by accident.

Soccer Mom · Feb 11, 2008

Lent really snuck up on me this year. I missed Ash Wednesday service for the first time in years.

I agree that it's tricky to generalize about "Protestant" since the umbrella covers so many diverse groups.

III · Feb 11, 2008

I've never done anything special for Ash Wednesday or Lent or Good Friday, but I do enjoy talking to my Catholic buddies about their experiences during Lent.

Sean D. Schaffer · Feb 11, 2008

Norman D Gutter said:
I grew up Episcopalian in New England, which meant essentially a Catholic upbringing. Lenten observation was a regular part of the year.

Now, decades later, and in an evangelical demonination, last year I decided observe Lent by giving up computer games. Not a solid observance, but I stuck it out. Lately I've been hamstrung by the computer game habit, so I decided to do it again. Goodbye Minesweeper. Goodbye Free Cell. See you in 40 days (plus Sundays). Maybe this year I'll be able to do without them after Lent, and have some time for writing.

How about y'all? Do any of you observe Lent? If so how?

Best Regards, and missing those hot cross buns,
NDG

I was raised in a Baptist church for the most part, and I've never really worshiped after the Roman way, so I never really knew what Lent was.

So my question for you is, what is it? And also, what does it represent? I'm honestly curious.

Norman D Gutter · Feb 12, 2008

Lent was originally preparation for Easter. Thinking about Jesus Christ's suffering, you give up something or things, something that is meaningful, something that hurts, to have a taste, admittedly a small taste, of what Christ went through. My college roommate, a Catholic mocking Lent, gave up watermelon and corn on the cob, which of course were not available that time of year. The church also had some rules for Lent, including extra masses, church services, and dietary rules (for example, no meat on Wednesday in addition to Friday). I suppose replacing the things given up with religous observance and meditation on Christ's suffering were part and parcel of the whole Lenten package.

Once I became an adult and put aside my English Catholic ways in favor of evangelical Protistantism, for years I never gave Lent a second thought. It really did not give me much spirital lift as a boy and teenager. Now, decades later, I can approach it with a more enlightened mind, and find it a good preparation for Easter, the highest feast of the church year. In addition to giving up the computer games, which were primarily mindless time sinks, I'm spending more times in devotions and Christian writings.

One interesting point: Sundays during Lent are not part of Lent. The 40 days are counted from Ash Wednesday to Easter eve, and Sundays are excluded. So, if you give up something for Lent, indulge on Sunday!

Thanks everyone for your participation in this thread.
NDG

Roger J Carlson · Feb 12, 2008

I was raised in a flavor of Baptist that was an off-shoot of the Swedish Lutheran church. We didn't celebrate Lent at all.

Now, however, I am attending a different denomination (Evangelical Covenant) that is very similar and also came from the Swedish Lutheran Church. But The Covenant kept many of the traditions of the Lutheran church. So they celebrate the Lenten season with special services: Ash Wednesday, Maunday Thursday, a Tenebrae service on Good Friday, as well as special emphasis on Lent on Sundays. But they don't practice giving something up during Lent.

matdonna · Feb 12, 2008

An important purpose of Lent originally was the preparation of catechumens (converts learning about the faith) to be baptized at Pascha, the feast of the Resurrection.

Orthodox Lent has a lot of details different from the West, but rather than reinvent the wheel on this thread, I suggest anyone interested check out the article by Frederica Mathewes-Green at the URL below-- she's covered it better than I could:

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/14/story_1403_1.html

Sean D. Schaffer · Feb 12, 2008

Norman D Gutter said:
Lent was originally preparation for Easter. Thinking about Jesus Christ's suffering, you give up something or things, something that is meaningful, something that hurts, to have a taste, admittedly a small taste, of what Christ went through. My college roommate, a Catholic mocking Lent, gave up watermelon and corn on the cob, which of course were not available that time of year. The church also had some rules for Lent, including extra masses, church services, and dietary rules (for example, no meat on Wednesday in addition to Friday). I suppose replacing the things given up with religous observance and meditation on Christ's suffering were part and parcel of the whole Lenten package.

Cool! I always wondered what Lent was, and I appreciate very much your explanation. I don't think I would be ready to keep such a holiday in my own life just yet, but that doesn't mean I won't later. It sounds like it has several interesting spiritual challenges to offer, that I wouldn't mind taking up as I continue to grow in Christ.

Thanks!

--Sean

Are you observing Lent?

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