Many years ago my vicar at the time encouraged us to take something up for Lent as a change to the usual giving something up… It was one of those sermons that struck a chord with me and ever since I have tried to use Lent as a time for picking something up as well as putting something down.So today saw me put down snacking between meals... so far so good but its only day one! My problem is that there its far to much of a temptation here at college where a fantastically cheap and well stocked tuck shop at which I can have a nice line of credit is located only a few feet from my room…. I am hoping that blogging this particular Lent aim will mean that my fellow students who follow this blog will help me keep to my promise – I can see them doing a nice line in interventions…. “Jane step away from the fair trade Ecuadorian 70% cocoa chocolate bar - NOW!”
As to the thing to pick up… well never one to take an easy option :o( I have decided to take up better communication. Strange sounding I know but there is a logical explanation, honest!
I want the things I pick up and put down, not just to be things that are good lifestyle sense but also things that help me draw closer to God in this season of Lent. So the lack of snacking as well as helping my general health and expanding waist line will, I hope, act as a reminder for me of all of God’s people that do not have enough to eat and draw me to look at what I can do about that.
The taking up better communication is because I have always found that I can draw closer to God through other people. It will be no surprise to any of you that know me that I don’t do well at the quite contemplative stuff of faith! So often in my life its been the support, love and faithfulness of my friends and family that have given me valued insights into the mind of Christ, they are also the ones that have kept me going through crises of faith and times when God has seemed very far away.
Knowing how important these people are to me and to my relationship with God I struggle with the fact that I am appallingly bad at keeping in touch with people I care about. If I see someone regularly its ok as I am more then happy to chat with people face to face, it’s over a distance that it becomes problematic. I do mean to email or phone people to see how they are and have a chat, but somehow weeks pass and I still mean to but haven’t. I am always planning to blog so that people know what I am up to, but somehow never seem to make the time. Looking back over my life I can see a pattern repeating over and again where I move on and lose touch with all the people that were important to me just through bad communication. I suppose that this is paramount in my mind at the moment as I face up to leaving college and therefore leaving all the people that have been so important to me whilst here. Also, as I prepare to move back to London I am all too acutely aware of how out of touch I am with my friends there…. people I don’t want to be out of touch with. ….
… So that is why I am resolving this Lent to blog more regularly, to answer and send more emails to friends, to talk regularly on the phone with the important people in my life… and in doing so I hope that God will dwell more richly in us all :o)
3 comments:
your fellow ordinands promise to confiscate any snack found in your possession. And very much appreciated the bag of bacon snacks this morning!!!
I feel I should just clarify that the bacon snacks were not confiscated (still not weakened.. yet!) They were voluntarily surrended from my snack stash so I wouln't be tempted to eat them.... and they were veggie as well, just in case you were wondering is I had taken up meat for Lent!
How interesting - I came up with a similar resolution over the mid-semester break a couple of weeks ago (hence checking your blog!).
And reading your blog has informed me that it's Lent now. I'm so out of touch with all things Anglican here (and there's not much interest in pancake days, either), that I was oblivious when it began!
We do get Easter Day off, though! :-)
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