Lent #4: The Lenten List.

Grow in grace and knowledge…

(Second Peter 3:18)

Apart from Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, I haven’t paid much attention to Lent. Even though I’ve been aware of Lent, I haven’t followed it much—not in the way the Book of Common Prayer invites me to participate: with…

1)      self-examination

2)      repentance

3)      prayer

4)      fasting

5)      denial/charity/alms

6)      reading and meditation on God’s holy Word

7)      marking our mortality.

I’m leery of contrived disciplines. Such disciplines didn’t work for Martin Luther, and our Puritan forbearers would have none of it. The Apostle Paul calls it “all dung.” He uses a bad word that we best not translate (Phil 3:8). But if such traditional disciplines lead us to “kneel before the Lord our maker and redeemer,” as the invitation promises; then, maybe such disciplines, within the sphere of God’s grace, can be a good thing. I find The Lenten invitation so beautiful that, for the first time, I’m going to accept the invitation and see what happens. I’ll let you know how it goes.