Oh HUNGRY Lent!
Posted: Wednesday, 07 March 2007 |
This Lent fasting just isn't working out very well. Instead of feeling spiritual and holy I feel tired, weak and crotchety. Lent seems like a waste of time. I have no idea what Lent is all about and what the fasting is supposed to achive.
Are other Lenten followers feeling unfulfilled like me?? Or am I somehow missing something here??
I am now into the big fat volume # 3: Lent and Easter Season. Most of the time I'm so hungry and grumpy (and sleepy) that I mumble through the prayers and get nothing out of them. What am I doing wrong??
I chose this wonderful book about Benedictine spirituality for my Lenten read. However, I'm mostly bored stiff when I read it. I seem to have a very shallow spirituality. Perhaps this Lent is a time for me to really see myself in the mirror - and the reason I'm not "getting anything out of" fasting or spiritual reading is because I'm not putting much into it?
I wonder where else in my character and approach to life I am shallow and uninvolved? Hmmm. Something is really starting to happen here. Perhaps Lent isn't such a waste of time after all! (Zeb says that he is not into the fasting thing since he is a dog and not a Catholic!)
Are other Lenten followers feeling unfulfilled like me?? Or am I somehow missing something here??
I am now into the big fat volume # 3: Lent and Easter Season. Most of the time I'm so hungry and grumpy (and sleepy) that I mumble through the prayers and get nothing out of them. What am I doing wrong??
I chose this wonderful book about Benedictine spirituality for my Lenten read. However, I'm mostly bored stiff when I read it. I seem to have a very shallow spirituality. Perhaps this Lent is a time for me to really see myself in the mirror - and the reason I'm not "getting anything out of" fasting or spiritual reading is because I'm not putting much into it?
I wonder where else in my character and approach to life I am shallow and uninvolved? Hmmm. Something is really starting to happen here. Perhaps Lent isn't such a waste of time after all! (Zeb says that he is not into the fasting thing since he is a dog and not a Catholic!)
Comments
I stopped giving up, giving up for lent, and I'm doing well. I am also doing well with my new years resolution, not to make a new years resolution, ( apart from that ) and I'm doing fine. Last Year I gave up smoking, and still don't smoke, you can do it girl.
Tws from SunnyLewis
is this your first Lent in Orkney? the reason Lent is not working for you is that a) you are newly married and have other priorities b) the weather is rubbish alternated with beautiful days - no consistency c) you had a dodgy ankle and had to sit up for ages d) you have to do so much a this time of year - there's no time for anything else lambing, calving, land work, gardening, You need to increase not give up for lent.
scallowawife from mid lent
perhaps instead of thinking of giving *something* up, you could see it as just giving some of *your time* up, to do something which appeals more to your *real* spirituality ... Forgive me, but that looks like a big, dry, unmoving sort of book ...?! I for one, would not choose to read it ... :-) But good on you for at least trying ...
soaplady from from a slightly buddhist perspective
Well....the book *is* a wonderful book....when the reader is mature enough to focus. I realize that the reason I am not "getting into" the book is because I'm looking for dashing knights and damsels in distress - you know, all that fun shallow stuff that makes for an excellent rainy-afternoon read on the sofa. I think the whole observation that I'm dealing with 10,000 new things + bored stiff with a bad ankle "hits the nail on the head." And then of course is my relativly shallow approach to my Faith: I've been content with the argumentative aspect ("I'm right and this is WHY") rather then living my faith in a much deeper sense. Which is understandable seeing as how I'm a convert. However, there comes a time when we need to grow up and move forward! **Grin** Yeah, forget giving up "something." I'll give some *time* to focus on my spirituality rather then constant hoots and giggles. Moving here to Orkney and leaving my job and my university has left me with a complete lack of ANYTHING - including a schedule. Is it any wonder that I'm struggling this Lent as I wallow around on my rear with a sore ankle?? Ah - but it is HEALING! We are seeing some wonderful improvements in phyisotherapy!!
Michelletherese from Mainland Orkney
Fasting is a way of involving the body as well as the soul in prayer. Hang in there. It works. +Dermott (or Diarmid) By the way, I have traced my ancestors back to the Shetland Islands. Are there any Chisholms in your neighborhood?
Dermott Dessert from DeLand, Florida USA
There is a Border Collie Rescue in DeLand. I volunteer there on Saturdays. Tell me about your Border Collie.
Dermott Dessert from DeLand, Florida USA
There was a great cartoon in the New Yorker mag a week or 2 ago. The caption read, "I gave up Google for Lent"!! Loved that!! Modern times, different choices!!
Shauna from Texas
Was that Border Collie aimed at me? Zeb is a Borzoi/Border Collie mix and ten times more Borzoi then Collie hehehe!! We've clocked him at 45mph - but he could go much faster!!
Michelle Therese from Mainland Orkney
Not to sound preachy or anything, but... as a Catholic, it's not about what YOU get out of fasting, Lent, etc., but it is what you GIVE to our Lord. You are uniting your sufferings with His. I think that you are feeling exactly what you should. Fasting is NOT fun, it is not rewarding, it is hard, it is suffering and it is not just about you, but about Him. Keep up the good work!!! The rewards may not be visible to you now, but they will come! Our Good Lord's generosity cannot be outdone.
Leslie from Upstate NY
Lent... the whole point of Lent can be heard on Ash Wednesday.. as the priest places the blessed ashes upon you he says one of two things: "ashes to ashes and dust to dust" or: turn to God and away from sin". Lent is a period of about 40 days... 40 days in it's self is significant. Jesus spent 40 days alone in the desert fasting and praying... The Bible speaks also of the Ark and the raining for 40 days and 40 nights. In previous times, 40 was a very special number - in these cases it was to mean the exact period of time to complete the holy deed or task. So Lent it's self is around 40 days and nights as well. The whole idea is to once a year remember that we are but mortal beings made up of ashes and dust and will die and turn again to dust. That life is but a flash, that death will indeed come, and to live our days with this in mind. So what does that mean? Why fast, what's the point of focusing on our death... isn't that morbid? No. When we focus on death like a circle it brings us back to our Lives. What are we doing with it? Our we being the best men and women we can possibly be. Usually the answer is no we are not, and with the help of God we know we can do better. So we pray more, and hopefully this will become a life change, not just a 40 day period of change.... Then comes fasting. There are many reasons and good things that come from fasting. For one, it has to do with the whole we are not just our bodies, we are spirit within these bodies - thus let us not be led by the body but by the soul. Fasting, denying the body what it desires, denying ourselves those temporary pleasures that all to often Lead us. So no meat and perhaps only bread and water on Fridays... it will not kill us. might in fact save us by reminding us of what is truly important. What is it that you fear? What would you hate to think of when death is almost upon you and you're lying in that bed... I for one do not want to feel I've wasted this time, wasted my life, know i could have done so much more than what i had. And that will be all of our fates, if we don't think and pray and change our lives now. and because most of us need a little reminding from time to time. And that is Lent. ServiteJack@Live.com
Jack from 10930 New York, USA
So...I traded my quiet cabin in the Alaskan woods for the howling winds of Orkney and life on a farm. 
RSS Feed