I Invite you to Observe a Holy Lent

Ash Wednesday is tomorrow. I haven't attended church regularly for the past couple of years but I do try to observe the significant dates on the liturgical calendar so I will be going to get the ashes at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow.

I will also be abstaining from meat tomorrow and on Fridays during Lent. Other that that, I have not decided on a Lenten discipline.

This is a thread where you can share your Lenten plans. This is not a thread where you should debate the validity of organized religion. Regardless or your religious tradition or lack thereof, I hope we can all agree that we can all benefit from a period of reflection from time to time.

Please answer in a serious manner.

I specifically asked you to answer in a serious manner.

i have no plans for the lenten season. i intend to continue living as i would before, eating tons of meat, engaging in many unholy acts and being an overall bastard.

if you choose to observe it, then i wish you good luck and a fine eye opening religious experience

I gave up magical thinking for Lent.

I thought you were asking me to observe my dryer vent for lint built-up...that can be incredibly dangerous if not cleaned regularly

giving up caffine

becoming a vegan

Why am I not a gold supporter?

I'm gonna lay off the sauce till sunday.

made pancakes (the proper kind) last night and giving up lovely drinks except for this Saturday and March 17th. It's gonna be a loooonnnnngggggg feckin 38 days

Mass at seven o'clock this evening.

I haven't been to church in years and i'm not going to be a hippocrite and go get a big black cross on my head for show.

Jesus loves hippocrites too, Gadmus.

It's not about getting it for show. I wipe it off when I leave.

In fact, the appointed Gospel reading (at least in the Episcopal Church) for Ash Wednesday is Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21, which begins: "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven."

You probably know this, but Sundays during Lent are not actually part of Lent. They are feast days. That's why if you total up the days starting today, Lent appears to last more than 40 days.

So if you vow to abstain from something, Sundays are fair game to indulge.

I find it hard to believe that you are a man of faith MM. I also don't get the whole lent thing. If you're (not you specifically) are doing it for religion's sake what the hell does it accomplish?

If you want to give up meat for 40 days do it in october.

I am so glad I am not Catholic. Fuck that shit.

The hardest I've ever heard Howard laugh (4:15-4:45).

I like to wait outside churches and throw roast beef at people

i drank all day, ate meat, and bought a bunch of pastries from the italian bakery cause they were all half off thanks to this ridiculousness. pignolli cookies biatch!!

I feel a little hypocritical because I haven't been to mass in probably 3 years. I do observe fasting on Ash Wednesday and Fridays during Lent. It's probably the least offensive religious act a person can do but it is ridiculed quite a bit.

I suspect most of us do some things that others might view as not accomplishing anything but that doesn't mean they are not important to us as individuals and that they do not have value.

I don't know how you define a "man of faith." I have lots of doubts about my religion and I certainly don't believe the Bible is a literal text. Thankfully, I am in a denomination that tolerates and even embraces that ambiguity.

To me, Lent is an opportunity to reflect on my life and "things done, and left undone" among other things. I don't think I will go to hell if I eat a steak come Friday, but insignificant sacrifices like that remind me that that this is a time for personal reflection.

I think most of us would benefit from setting aside some time to reflect on ourselves and our relationship to others, whether or not we rely upon the rituals of Christianity or other world religions to provide the framework for that process.

the dead know not of the living