This year I'm giving up sleep for Lent. Before you get too worried, let me assure you that my plans are not to forgo sleep all together with the hope of donning my dead-of-winter Zombie wear. On the contrary, I'm giving up an hour of my usual lie-in mornings to go to breakfast and to blog, because this year I'm feeling called to pursue wakefulness.
Each morning I'll look forward to meeting friends far and near in the Lenten liturgy; I'll be reading along with the Book of Alternative Services of the Anglican Church of Canada and will aim to write a brief reflection on the morning's Scripture readings, litanies, and any other part of the liturgy for the day.
Today is Ash Wednesday and with an excruciating start to my early-morning task, I'm finding great comfort in the sentence for Lent: "The Lord is full of compassion and mercy: O come, let us worship." Worship on this day means marking the beginning of the Lenten journey with the sign of ashes smeared across our foreheads. This is a reminder of "the frailty and uncertainty of human life" and bearing it together in community further reminds us that we enter this time of self-examination together. So if you're feeling lost or lonely, take heart: "The Lord if full of compassion and mercy" and that's a reality which humanity as a whole is invited to contemplate.
I do hope you'll feel free to comment on these posts with reflections from your own encounters on the Lenten trail, whether you're new to the discipline, a seasoned traveller, or just curious to learn what it's all about.
Bon Voyage!
Hello Dtr#2
ReplyDeleteI like this idea. So where is today's reflection?
pancakes with lemon and sugar- did you miss the maple syrup?
Things I'm considering/wondering about to give up for Lent:
Is one allowed to give up paying taxes during Lent? Furthermore, is filling out taxing return forbidden during Lent?
Perhaps, Mom should give up being ridiculously silly for Lent
Exercise- that's it- I could become a sloth for Lent- bad idea since I've only got 5 more weeks of beta trial to complete the year- Can you believe that?
Ok... this is for real- spend less time playing on-line Scrabble and utilise time to read your Blog.
LYL MOM xox
Mama! You silly goose! I think we should petition the gov't with your request to give up taxes for Lent. I'm with you all the way on that one! But please don't give up being silly, because that's what I love most about you. :)
ReplyDelete(and you've left me with a really funny image in my head of a sloth playing scrabble and occasionally pulling up a new tab to check out her blog roll)
Worry wart! Please don't worry about the origin. All is revealed-
ReplyDeletehttp://www.word-detective.com/2007/07/31/worry-wart/
I've just finished a night shift looking after 4 kids with life threatening illness altho' none imminently dying. it's def. hard not to worry esp. after shift. On my way home, I go over and over in my mind mentally checking off things that needed to be done, trusting that I didn't inadvertently miss anything such as subtle signs and symptoms which could indicate a deterioration in condition. Ultimately, I leave it all in God's hands and take time away from work to restore/refresh so that I can give of my best when I return 12h later- "no point worrying" has become a mantra as I attempt to sleep- that's hard enough during daytime hours without the added stress of worrying.
Goodnight!
Those are some real-life words of wisdom, Mams. I was just telling a friend the other day how there was such a wonderful atmosphere on your unit.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be neat if we got to work together someday? :)
It would indeed but you'd better get on with it as I'll be retiring soon!
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