Lent 2022
What is Lent?
Lent is an observance in the Christian liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, before beginning his public ministry and fulfilling his mission of sharing the good news and sacrifice for the atonement of humankind’s sin and to be redeemed by God forever.
Lent is a period of 40 days during which Christians remember the events leading up to and including the death of Jesus Christ, whose life and teachings are the foundation of Christianity.
The 40-day period is called Lent after an old English word meaning 'lengthen'. This is because of the time of year when it happens, as the days start to get longer, as we approach Summer.
Lent has gone through many changes over the years from a few days of observance to 40 days of observance with Sundays excused from fasting. Sundays in Lent are observed as days to celebrate Jesus rising and overcoming death.
It was officially observed after the council of Nicea (325 A.D.) after christianity became the official Roman state religion under Constantine and new converts needed time to prepare for baptism.
In different parts of the world and in western and eastern christianity fasting is observed in different ways. Fasting from food completely on certain days, one meal a day, no animal products for 40 days with breaks on Sunday.
How to implement Lent into your life?
The important thing is that you remove something from your life so you can better focus on God, forgiveness and reflection.
If you don’t know what too fast from, think about what consumes your mind the most and fast from that. Or ask God to show you anything that you might have put above him.
Plan some time even if it’s 15 minutes to read your word, pray and meditate on those things each day. It can even be moments throughout the day. Or choosing to react in a different way than normal. It’s about being intentional. Reflect on the scriptures of Christ’s temptation and when you feel tempted, pray. It’s not about being perfect at it it’s about building towards something better. So seriously don’t beat yourself up if you do something you planned not to do. It’s not the time to get in a guilt cycle. Christ died for our sins. You are forgiven. That’s what we are celebrating.
What if you’re not a christian?
You can still take this time to reflect and meditate on gratitude in your life. We can all do well with removing things from our life that aren’t serving our forward momentum and growth.
You can download the Bible app and read the passages about Christ being tempted and then see if there is something you can glean from the story for your own life. Luke 4:1-13.
Read the entire book of Luke and reflect on the stories and the people Jesus touched with His life. Sit with the readings for a time and see if they speak to you about your life and how you an be more of service to those around you and in your sphere of influence.
Since I’m a Christian my goal is to create and environment and atmosphere around my physical self and in my mind that is contemplative and reflective as much as I can. There are some questions that I’ve been asking God about and I want to dive deeper into a space where I can hear the answers. No doubt as Christ was tempted in the desert, resistance will probably try to come up during this Lenten season. So we need to be prepared for the spiritual warfare. Again use the hard times to reflect on how Christ handled temptation in the desert. Remember his sacrifice for you and take time to thank Him. Even if we can’t possibly thank Him enough for loving us so much that knowing we were sinners He still suffered and died for us so we can have ever lasting life.
When Jesus was finished fasting in the desert he came out forged by fire and ready to begin his ministry. This time of temptation was necessary in his journey in fulfilling his purpose here on earth.
Today we live in a time when we can humbly take part in the gift of his sacrifice and celebrate what He has done for us. Lent is simply a time to join together in anticipation, remembrance and celebration while growing deeper in our faith.
What am I choosing to fast from?
I have always had a vivid interior life. I think that’s what makes me a good filmmaker and actress. Taking time to think and self-reflect is a wonderful practice. It helps you to be mindful of others, be self-aware and take lessons to heart for growth. In the Bible Mary Jesus’s mother was said to ponder events in her heart on numerous occasions when she had spiritual encounters.
Quiet thinking has been a blessing in helping me to work out questions, come up with creative ideas and even realize when I need to apologize to someone (usually my husband or kids) for responding out of frustration. In my quiet times are where I hear from God and commune with His spirit. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I love to ponder over the plight of humanity, the history of things, human behavior, how I can live better, and over my dreams. I can admit some pondering is okay even healthy.
However, there is a dark side to all this pondering. When it becomes something called rumination.
When it become rumination it’s no longer productive. Rumination is the process of repetitive thinking about the same thoughts which tend to be sad or dark. One definition is “chewing the cud”. You just chew and chew on the same thought over and over again without making progress. I tend to ruminate and spend a lot of time dwelling on my mistakes or things that frustrate me. Sometimes I think about the struggles I’ve had in life, my current struggles or even invent things to worry about. As you can see I leave myself no shortage of things to over think. These ruminations are the sign posts down a dark tunnel where negative thoughts live. It has taken me so many years to become self-aware of my negative thoughts. Over the last year especially I’ve learned to catch myself when I’ve followed a few too many signs and make a u-turn back to the sunshine.
I’ve been thinking to myself about the possibility of just fasting from the rumination altogether. I usually start by thinking that “this is productive thinking. I’m working over a problem and I’ll find a solution by continually thinking about it.” The first sign post into rumination is when I stop moving. I literally will stop moving and look like I’m the statue of the thinker. I remember the first day I caught on to what was happening. I was in the shower and I was off in la la land somewhere and I realized the water was going cold. “How long was I like that?” I pondered. Pondering on pondering - now that’s some inception stuff right there. I realized that I just wasted time - and water. And I didn’t like that. I didn’t even feel good about what I was pondering. I had gone to a negative place, a frustrated place. Ponderitis had gotten me once again.
In the past Ponderitis held me captive. So captive that I went into deep depression. Our thoughts can actually be the battle ground for spiritual warfare. In the land of of our mind the enemy (satan) wants to colonize it and rob us of our future and our hope. If he can’t do that he will at least try to neutralize the potency of your humanity. When I read the words “neutralize” in my study bible I recoiled. That is some strong verbiage! That tells me that we are very powerful when we are walking in our purpose. You only seek to neutralize things that are powerful enough to destroy something - like acid. The enemy seeks to neutralize us by battling us in our minds. So we HAVE to take care of our minds.
1 Peter 5:8
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (NIV)
So this year I’ve been pondering “if I can fast from food social media, sugar, etc. Why don’t I fast from negative thoughts? At least try catch myself quicker and immediately ponder on the word of God.
Pondering on the word of God is so powerful that it comes with a promise.
Psalm 1
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of the mockers. But whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither- whatever they do prospers. (NIV)
Joshua 1:8
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be carful to do everything written in it. Then you be prosperous and successful. (NIV)
The Apostle Paul is so serious about about thoughts that he takes a military stand against it.
In 2 Corinthians 10:4 he says:
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up agains the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (NIV)
Taking captive every thought simply means that you are mindful of the thoughts that come into your mind. You decide to be conscious of the meaning of thoughts and the implications of your thought life. You know that the thoughts about your self and others can affect your actions and also what you allow into your life.
I used to have the worst thoughts towards myself when I was younger. If I got lost driving I would berate myself. If I made a mistake it would solidify that I wasn’t intelligent. I didn’t realize what I was doing to myself until my 20’s. How sad! I realized it one day while I was driving somewhere that I always went and made a wrong turn. I started to berate myself and realized what I was doing. And it didn’t feel good, and there was no reason for it AT ALL! I honestly felt like I had caught the devil with his pants down. He was up to his old tricks of making me feel incompetent which led to anxiety which led to low self esteem which was affecting my entire life. And I was sick of it! For many years I was held captive to negative thinking in many areas of my life.
Now that I’m in my 40’s I want to take it a step further and see what will happen if I not only took the thoughts captive but fed divine words into myself right away. What if I left overthinking and instead gave my worries to God? Like REALLY gave them to God.
Even writing this I could be thinking:
What if nothing changes?
But I’m also thinking:
What if I don’t go on this journey? What will I miss out on?
This is an opportunity to dive deeper in my faith.
I’m ready for this commitment
I trust God. He’s seen me through so much in my life.
I’m excited to do this!!
If you would like to do this fast I encourage you to be mindful about what you are feeding your mind and take a fast from it and SIMULTANEOUS feed your mind with God’s words.
If you get stuck in the overthinking cycle:
Stop and Make a note of what you were saying to yourself over and over again/worrying about
Pray and confess to God your worries. Remember this scripture - Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (NIV)
Use the Bible app, google or your study bible (here’s mine) to find the topic with which you are struggling with.
Write down the scripture that answers your prayer.
Repeat that scripture to yourself over and over and when that worry shows back up.
MOVE! Remember when I told you I would literally stop moving when the rumination would start? Get up! Walk! Dance! Put on worship music! This is the fight my friend. This is spiritual warfare right here and now! Don’t become neutralized, don’t become immobile. Move your lips with prayer or the words of God and let those sink into your mind. The word of God is called the sword of the spirit so we must pick it up and fight like Jesus did in the wilderness and came out victorious.
I hope this helps you think about engaging in Lent and also helps you see what this observance can look like in practice.
CTA: Never miss a new piece of content and sign up for Inspired Letters here.