Gearing up for Lent

Where I have some say in it, I tend to try to make the Sunday before Lent [ie the coming Sunday] a day to encourage people to think about what they are going to do [or not] for Lent rather than getting to Ash Wednesday and thinking, "Whoa! is it Lent already? What shall I do? Oh I'll give up chocolate again." I'm trying to revise and put together some ideas and perspectives to help our students and staff to give considered thought to the matter. So to warm us up here's my take on the historical background.

Lent began as a season of preparation for Easter, firstly for those who were becoming Christians to receive instruction before their baptisms at Easter and secondly for the rest of the church to make some solidarity with them. This gives Lent the traditional characteristics of penitence and abstinence. Penitence as people reflected on the events on Holy week and why they happened and then the sense of getting things right with God. Abstinence as an outward sign of penitence and preparation and as an act of solidarity with the sufferings of Christ [archetypally in the temptations in the wilderness].

Traditionally Lenten fasting was to give up meat and dairy produce [in effect to become vegan -though fish may have been allowed for at least some]. This would have been in addition to the regular weekly fasting from any food on Wednesdays and Fridays. Apart from the practical use that such a restricted diet would be in an agrarian economy at the end of winter, it also meant that the resumption of normal diet was felt as celebratory. Perhaps this deferred gratification is something we can learn from and emulate in today's consumer, 'instant hit' society.

Fasting is often a fasting from something in particular, be it from food or certain kinds of food or drink, or from activities [such as watching TV or going to the cinema]. Also often included in Lenten discipline is the idea of undertaking study or particular courses of action [as people would do as part of their preparation for Baptism]; hence many churches hold special Lent study groups and many Christians undertake special activities to help them grow in faith or understanding - reading the whole of a particular part of the Bible or going on a pilgrimage or having a special regular prayer time they wouldn't normally have, for example.

I've found a few good web sites too this one from a broadly evangelical perspective. Then there's Ken Collins' site which is more Catholic. And this Orthodox site has links to recipes as well as helpful info on Orthodox Lents [yes plural] -which are different dates to the Western Kalendar.