Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. I'm participating in a Lenten challenge being held over at Faith and Family. The 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge.
What are you planning on doing or giving up for the next 40 days?
Well, a friend of mine once helped me focus my Lenten practices by recommending that you pick 1 thing in each of the categories of faith, hope, and charity. The first would involve more prayer time, the second some form of sacrifice/penance, and the third some act of kindness towards others.
So, for "faith", I'm committing to getting up early for spiritual reading and morning prayer, and making at least one chapel visit during the day for a kind of "quick hello."
For "hope", I'm sacrificing a lot of internet time. I'm only going to check my e-mail 3-4 times a day, instead of being glued to it all day long. (I need to lay out how I'm going to cut down on the rest of my surfing, though, or the definition of "less" will start to get pretty hazy...)
And for "charity", well, this one I haven't cemented in my mind yet. One suggestion I really like is to make a point to talk about myself less in conversations with friends and focus more on them instead. But I've found you need to make your goals explicit and measurable, otherwise you won't know whether you've done it at the end of the day...
Oh -- I'm also giving up swearing. Forgot that little nugget.
Wow! That's really great. I'm also going to be making a point of saying morning prayers and reading the daily scriptures. I recently got the Catholic Women's Daily Planner. It has some prayers in the front and then each day in the calendar has the daily readings and saint for that day listed. It's really wonderful for keeping everything together. I don't think I could give up email or the internet. I rarely get out as it is so I'd be lost without a quick way to connect with my friends!
My view is, if a thing is necessary for your sanity and basic well-being, keep it in! Sacrifice something else you can forgo without developing a nervous tic.
Since I've been in grad school, offering up coffee or chocolate is a no-no -- in the name of charity. There'd be no living with me for my housemates!
3 comments:
Nice!
Well, a friend of mine once helped me focus my Lenten practices by recommending that you pick 1 thing in each of the categories of faith, hope, and charity. The first would involve more prayer time, the second some form of sacrifice/penance, and the third some act of kindness towards others.
So, for "faith", I'm committing to getting up early for spiritual reading and morning prayer, and making at least one chapel visit during the day for a kind of "quick hello."
For "hope", I'm sacrificing a lot of internet time. I'm only going to check my e-mail 3-4 times a day, instead of being glued to it all day long. (I need to lay out how I'm going to cut down on the rest of my surfing, though, or the definition of "less" will start to get pretty hazy...)
And for "charity", well, this one I haven't cemented in my mind yet. One suggestion I really like is to make a point to talk about myself less in conversations with friends and focus more on them instead. But I've found you need to make your goals explicit and measurable, otherwise you won't know whether you've done it at the end of the day...
Oh -- I'm also giving up swearing. Forgot that little nugget.
Wow! That's really great. I'm also going to be making a point of saying morning prayers and reading the daily scriptures. I recently got the Catholic Women's Daily Planner. It has some prayers in the front and then each day in the calendar has the daily readings and saint for that day listed. It's really wonderful for keeping everything together.
I don't think I could give up email or the internet. I rarely get out as it is so I'd be lost without a quick way to connect with my friends!
My view is, if a thing is necessary for your sanity and basic well-being, keep it in! Sacrifice something else you can forgo without developing a nervous tic.
Since I've been in grad school, offering up coffee or chocolate is a no-no -- in the name of charity. There'd be no living with me for my housemates!
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