Lent

[ValleyGal]

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of lent. Do you celebrate Lent? Why or why not? How do you celebrate it? Formal? Informal? Individually? As a family?

Did you know this?

The original period of Lent was 40 hours, and was spent fasting to remember the suffering of Christ and the 40 hours He spent in the tomb. In the early 3rd century, it was lengthened to 6 days and then 36 days (36 being the tithe or tenth of the 365 days of the year). About 800 AD it changed to 40 days (or 46 if you include all the Sundays between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday).

I didn't, but I thought it was interesting. I personally like the idea of a 40-hour fast in lieu of 6 weeks, although I kind of understand having it for so long - at least for those committed to a journey to the cross every single day. My life is too insane for that, so I have never actually celebrated Lent, but I do love the idea of 40 hours... I might do that this year, and spend the wake-time of that 40 hours meditating on Philippians 2:3-11. What a passage to meditate on in the context of the Easter season - my favourite time of year!

Not only has it always been my favourite time of year for remembering Christ and his suffering, and the victory of the resurrection, but it was on a Good Friday when my husband got on both his knees before me, washed and dried my feet, and there before me asked me to marry him. Now it's even more special!

ETA where I took the quote from: https://followingtrusting.wordpress...&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=[1002816156460213]&action_type_map=[%22og.shares%22]&action_ref_map=[]

 

[Hetta]

I do. I spent some time in Catholic schools and churches as a child and teen, and I got to know about Lent. I find Lent very special and important, and went with a couple of Catholic friends to get ashes this morning at the chapel on our campus. I always thought that Lent represented the period that Christ spent in the wilderness (40 days and nights), so I always thought of myself as sojourning with him, having "given up" something important to me during that period - not ever as important as giving up eating and drinking as he did - but some "thing". As a family we practiced Lent for many years, but that has fallen off in the last few years, as my children became adults/found other things to do/joined churches that don't practice Lent. But I still do it, and it is important to me.

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

We don't do it. As far as I know its just a catholic thing. But I find it interesting the things people do on lent.

 

[Odetta]

I don't know if it's just a Catholic thing, but it's definitely not Southern Baptist. I've never practiced it. I do remember growing up that our school system would always serve fish on Fridays during Lent season, because in our area, those who practiced Lent did not eat meat on Fridays. I had a roommate in college (non-Catholic) who once gave up chocolate and caffeine for Lent, but I don't remember her replacing it with any kind of prayer or meditation.

 

[All4Christ]

We don't do it. As far as I know its just a catholic thing. But I find it interesting the things people do on lent.

No, it's definitely not just a Catholic thing. As an Orthodox Christian, we definitely participate in Lent, though we do things somewhat differently than the Catholic and Protestant churches that participate in Lent. Multiple Protestants churches also participate in Lent...especially churches like Anglicans and Lutherans.

 

[All4Christ]

This is a description of Lent from the Orthodox Christian perspective:

The season of Great Lent is the time of preparation for the feast of the Resurrection of Christ, It is the living symbol of man’s entire life which is to be fulfilled in his own resurrection from the dead with Christ. It is a time of renewed devotion: of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It is a time of repentance, a real renewal of our minds, hearts and deeds in conformity with Christ and his teachings. It is the time, most of all, of our return to the great commandments of loving God and our neighbors.

In the Orthodox Church, Great Lent is not a season of morbidity and gloominess. On the contrary, it is a time of joyfulness and purification. We are called to “anoint our faces” and to “cleanse our bodies as we cleanse our souls.” The very first hymns of the very first service of Great Lent set the proper tone of the season

We actually celebrate Pascha (Easter) on a different day, which follows a similar schedule as the Jewish Passover. Lent starts in the middle of March for us.

I grew up in a Pentecostal church, so I didn't participate in Lent then. Now though, I really appreciate having the period of time set aside to focus on the death and resurrection of Christ. Often, it felt like Easter came and went quickly. The period of Lent also helps us grow in anticipation of celebrating the resurrection of our Savior.

 

[ValleyGal]

My church is not Orthodox or Catholic. We (Mennonite) do not celebrate Lent as a corporate body, but the pastor encourages recognizing the Lent period on a personal level. He encourages fasting (from something) and including a semi-formal study or prayer time leading up to Good Friday, at which time the beginning of Easter services starts.

My pastor's wife posted a suggestion on FB that I am actually going to try. Take a big box or bag, and every day of Lent, put one item into it. The item should be something that you no longer use, and when you put the item in the box or bag, pray for the person receiving it, that they would come to know the death and resurrection of Christ in a personal and meaningful way. I thought it was a good idea. So far, I have three pairs of shoes in the box. I'm not sure yet what I'll put into it today, but am thinking about maybe a book, clothes or winter supplies. Not sure yet. This will be an interesting 40 days.

 

[RedPonyDriver]

No Lent here. Our church has a prayer walk path laid out with different prayer prompts at each stop. There was a night of worship on Wednesday night too. Personally I usually look for ways to do things anonymously around town like leave dog food for homeless folks with dogs (most shelters will not allow pets), leave money at laundromats, gas cards, things like that. I usually also leave a little note that says "Jesus loves you and so do I" and the phone # to our church. Its fun.

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

My church is not Orthodox or Catholic. We (Mennonite) .....

I never knew a anabaptist was a mennonite. I kept thinking maybe anabpatist had something to do with regular baptist. Wow, learn something new every day! I am curious though, I know unlike the amish, mennonites use limited modern day stuff. But you are the internet. Is yours a less limited version? Just curious.

By us we often see amish (love their homemade stuff), and sometimes mennonites.

 

[ValleyGal]

There are different Mennonites. I think "First" Mennonites are more traditional (long hair, no makeup, etc) but I don't know if they use modern technology. It seems to me we have a small "First" Mennonite church here. The ones I worship with - a lot of farmers, but people from all walks and professions - use modern everything. We live in an area known as the Bible Belt, and most of the churches here are Mennonite Brethren. I know out on the Prairies there are more traditional Anabaptists (re-baptizers) including Quaker, Amish and Hutterites, who pretty much live peacefully on their farms. Their income is usually from their farms, but also from selling homemade items like furniture, dresses, baking and preserves, and crafts. There was a group of Hutterites when I lived on the Prairie who travelled into town every week or so - they would all pile into the van, go to the department store to pick up their supplies and groceries, and then load everything up into the van and go. They would keep to themselves, but were not unfriendly. Amazing, actually... On more than one occasion I saw them leave with 40 lbs of potatoes, huge sacks of rice, a whole cart of bulk-packaged meats, etc. On one level, I wish I could have gone to live with them for a while.

I don't know if these sects celebrate Lent, though. One of the traditional things my denomination does is celebrate the foot-washing ceremony. I have not attended since I moved here, but I did attend them when I lived in my hometown. It was always such an amazing, humbling ceremony. We did it in a Friday morning service rather than on the Thursday evening when Jesus was likely to have eaten his last meal, but the when does not matter so much as the celebration itself.

Until I got married, I celebrated the Easter weekend by spending the Thursday evening meditating on the last evening and night of Jesus' life, then on Good Friday, imagining the via dolorosa, and the broken heart of laying his life down willingly, without resistance. I would spend the Saturday meditating on how utterly empty the world would have seemed so long ago when his body lay in the grave, and then Sunday morning I would find renewed energy attending a sunrise service, meditating on the "wow" factor of the resurrection. I love Easter....

 

[All4Christ]

There are different Mennonites. I think "First" Mennonites are more traditional (long hair, no makeup, etc) but I don't know if they use modern technology. It seems to me we have a small "First" Mennonite church here. The ones I worship with - a lot of farmers, but people from all walks and professions - use modern everything. We live in an area known as the Bible Belt, and most of the churches here are Mennonite Brethren. I know out on the Prairies there are more traditional Anabaptists (re-baptizers) including Quaker, Amish and Hutterites, who pretty much live peacefully on their farms. Their income is usually from their farms, but also from selling homemade items like furniture, dresses, baking and preserves, and crafts. There was a group of Hutterites when I lived on the Prairie who travelled into town every week or so - they would all pile into the van, go to the department store to pick up their supplies and groceries, and then load everything up into the van and go. They would keep to themselves, but were not unfriendly. Amazing, actually... On more than one occasion I saw them leave with 40 lbs of potatoes, huge sacks of rice, a whole cart of bulk-packaged meats, etc. On one level, I wish I could have gone to live with them for a while.

I don't know if these sects celebrate Lent, though. One of the traditional things my denomination does is celebrate the foot-washing ceremony. I have not attended since I moved here, but I did attend them when I lived in my hometown. It was always such an amazing, humbling ceremony. We did it in a Friday morning service rather than on the Thursday evening when Jesus was likely to have eaten his last meal, but the when does not matter so much as the celebration itself.

Until I got married, I celebrated the Easter weekend by spending the Thursday evening meditating on the last evening and night of Jesus' life, then on Good Friday, imagining the via dolorosa, and the broken heart of laying his life down willingly, without resistance. I would spend the Saturday meditating on how utterly empty the world would have seemed so long ago when his body lay in the grave, and then Sunday morning I would find renewed energy attending a sunrise service, meditating on the "wow" factor of the resurrection. I love Easter....

My grandparents are Church of the Brethren, so I also have been a part of a foot washing ceremony. It is a beautiful ceremony...very meaningful. Many of my ancestors have been Anabaptists...though they were the traditional Church of the Brethren instead of Mennonite.

 

[sdmsanjose]

The original period of Lent was 40 hours, and was spent fasting to remember the suffering of Christ and the 40 hours He spent in the tomb. In the early 3rd century, it was lengthened to 6 days and then 36 days (36 being the tithe or tenth of the 365 days of the year). About 800 AD it changed to 40 days (or 46 if you include all the Sundays between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday).


ValleyGal

Thank you for educating me on Lent. I had heard that term all through my life but did not know exactly what it meant. Any time anyone makes the remembering of Christ’s suffering as important is admired by me. We had communion today and that is what our church does often. Anytime we can be reminded of the great love of God it is spiritually enriching!

 

[ValleyGal]

Stan, I didn't know all that either. I got that from the blog my pastor's wife sent me (the link). It is interesting how it changed though. I think my preference is the 40 hours of fasting, but the 40 days has its merits too. Kind of like the 5 - 8 weeks leading up to Christmas, the focus narrows and the tension builds until finally that one day happens and the world knew the Saviour.

It has become easy to talk about Jesus' suffering and feeling disconnected from it. I think we are desensitized to violence and to broken hearts. The words can be empty unless we ourselves join in Jesus' suffering - have suffered ourselves so that we can empathize deeply with his suffering which was far worse than any of our suffering. I don't think we can fully grasp the extent of his suffering because we cannot fully grasp the love which compelled him to go through it. Grace, too, is a difficult concept to grasp until it is experienced in a way that gives meaning to the word.

It's nice to see you back!

 

[sdmsanjose]

By ValleyGal
It has become easy to talk about Jesus' suffering and feeling disconnected from it. I think we are desensitized to violence and to broken hearts. The words can be empty unless we ourselves join in Jesus' suffering - have suffered ourselves so that we can empathize deeply with his suffering which was far worse than any of our suffering. I don't think we can fully grasp the extent of his suffering because we cannot fully grasp the love which compelled him to go through it. Grace, too, is a difficult concept to grasp until it is experienced in a way that gives meaning to the word.


Valleygal,

Something tells me that you have suffered and that is one reason that you empathize with Christ’s suffering.

Years ago I was in a Sunday school class for adults and the teacher was talking about suffering and how it could be used for a closer connection to God. One person spoke up and said that the message should be about God’s blessings not suffering. I wondered if he was correct. However, years later, I suffered through a family crises and it drove me to reaching out to God. The suffering brought into sharp focus God’s wooing and my opportunity to respond in faith to God.

The suffering gave me much more awareness to God’s pains because I then realized how my lack of prioritizing God as number one hurt Him. I never want to suffer like that again but I realize that the suffering was the catalyst for my greatest spiritual gains. Do not want to volunteer for that suffering AGAIN but the gains are priceless!

I do not claim to be a spiritual giant but the suffering that I experienced has resulted in me having much more empathy, gratitude, faith and adoration for God and Christ’s great sacrifice and obedience. My suffering even helped me to grasp a little of the difficult concept of grace. Me and my family are the recipients of God’s grace which produced a bit more realization of God’s love.

God’s blessing is wonderful but suffering can bring about a great emotional connection to the heart of God and increase faith!

THANK YOU VG FOR REMINDING ME OF A GREAT LESSON AND A GREAT GAIN IN MY LIFE!

 

[ValleyGal]

God’s blessing is wonderful but suffering can bring about a great emotional connection to the heart of God and increase faith!

Stan, thank you for sharing. That is awesome how your suffering also increased your experience of grasping grace. For me, it helped me to put his great love for us into perspective - the love shown when he died for us "while we were yet sinners." We are the ones who made him suffer and he still went to the cross for us! How can we put this perspective into practice in our own relationships and lives so that others can know his great love through us?

This is why I love Easter so much! The celebration simply captures the whole reason for Jesus, and it becomes the stage to display how all of Christianity comes together in this main historical event. I'm so glad you've experienced his grace and he is so real to you this coming season!