God’s mercy be with you in this season of Lent.

Lenten Disciplines

One of the traditions in the Episcopal Church (and the historic Christian Church) is to take on a Lenten discipline.  Most often people chose to give up something like chocolate or dessert or coffee or cursing.  Those are certainly ways to practice a discipline. However it is not the only way to practice a discipline.  There are an unlimited numbers of ways to practice a discipline so it helps to understand why we take on a discipline.

Why do a discipline? 

A discipline is a way of exercising.  Think about playing a sport or musical instrument.  They all require discipline of practice if one is to deepen their skill or even just maintain it.  The same is true for faith.  Faith is like a muscle – failing to exercise it makes it grow weak and over time, it will atrophy.  At the same time other muscles may be growing much stronger as they fill in and compensate.  These muscles while part of being w(holy) and healthy overtake the faith muscle.  The purpose of a spiritual discipline is to exercise one’s faith so that we can grow.  A discipline encourages us to be intentional in the practice of our faith, so that we can deepen our relationship with Jesus and with community.  There are other disciplines besides giving up chocolate or other practices that are unhealthy for our bodies.  We can select a discipline that focuses on taking on something new.  Some examples are:

Daily prayer:  We can commit to daily prayer that isn’t ‘on-the-run’.  You might commit to doing one of the Daily Offices each day. There are other ways of praying with intention and discipline.  There will be booklets in Healy Hall with daily meditations you can use.  A good book on prayer is The Practice of Prayer by Margaret Guenther, which is volume four in our Church Teaching Series and published by Cowley Publications.  There is a copy in Healy Hall.

Study:  Deepening one’s knowledge is another discipline we could undertake in Lent.  There will be several offerings this Lent including some for on your own.  Look for them in elsewhere in this issue.  You could also choose to read something on your own.  If you would like some ideas speak with Priest Joanne. 

Service to others:  We can commit to doing something for others in these days of Lent.  It could be serving meals at Love, Inc., volunteering at a hospital, nursing home or an animal shelter.  It could be calling on shut-ins that you know or writing letters to people.  Another way of serving would be to use the offering box home in which you put your change at the end of the day and when it is full, bring it to church where it is sent to the national church for mission work. 

Fasting:  Fasting is the giving up of food and drink (other than water) for a specific period of time – most commonly 24 hours.  A modified fast would be with simple bread, broth, and fruit juices.  Fasting should be used as a means to be more aware of God in our lives, our dependence upon the Holy One, and to be intentional in listening.  Hunger or desire to eat then become reminders to focus on God, to remember we belong first and completely to God.

Self-Care:  While not an ancient form of discipline it is certainly on that many of us fail to attend to in our lives.  Our culture encourages us to do more, be more, go more, see more, spend more, more, more, more.  I remember in the Air Force, we were always being told as cuts were made, “do more with less.”  Perhaps a good discipline today would be “do less, be more present.”  Self-care might include exercise, healthy eating, meditation, and the practice of silence.

Journaling:  Journaling is a way of spending time in quiet and solitude reflecting on God in your life.  It can be done using scripture or questions.  One possibility is to spend time intentionally discerning God’s call to you, now, in this time of Lent.  The Rev. Scott Stoner, former Rector, St. Christopher, River Hills, WI, suggests the following questions. 

At this particular time in your life, how are you being asked to follow Christ?

What are you being called to leave behind and what are you being called to begin anew? 

What risks are you being asked to take? 

What are the building blocks and what are the stumbling blocks in your life? 

What is the vision/mission that God is calling you to live out inside and outside your parish (St. John the Divine)? 

This Lent, why not take on a discipline?  Find a partner for accountability if that would help.  Like an exercise program, it may be difficult at first, yet, overtime it may become a habit that will nourish and feed you, building up your faith muscle.

                                    Faithfully, Priest Joanne