Even though Lent officially ended on April 5, I decided to extend it to April 9 which was Easter Monday. What's four extra days? Four extra days abstain from what I gave up. Four extra days on a journey that I value each and every year.
Lent 2012 started off with me breaking it. I drank some pop and ate some candy on the first day. The first bit of candy was meant for the evening before, but due to falling asleep, that never happened. The rest on that day was due to not thinking or wanting something and getting that by mistake. With the first bit of candy, I thought I would be clever and not officially start Lent till later in the day, but I didn't bother. I felt bad in a round about way for breaking Lent. I've never broken Lent before. I didn't beat myself up about or dwell on it. I just "dusted myself off" and moved on from it. Dwelling on it would be quite pointless, wouldn't you think?
The rest of Lent was smooth sailing. It was quite uneventful for the most part except for week six when I politely refused a can of pop I was offered. Doing the weekly updates of Lent is good and all, but it seems like something big is supposed to happen. Something worth reading is supposed to happen. Something to effect that I had a major meltdown and cheated on Lent big time. But if you've kept up with my postings, than you'd know that I didn't even come close to something like that. For the most part, Lent went off without a hitch.
The journey is something I appreciate because it is a walk with Jesus during the time he was making his way towards Jerusalem where he ultimately died. Just as he was making a sacrifice, you were making a sacrifice during Lent by abstaining and fasting from something. The journey that Jesus did was hard for him and it was probably hard for you. But Jesus knew this is something he had to do. With what I abstained and fasted from, I knew I had to do it even though I've done it before. Even though I cheated on Lent, Jesus died so the mistakes I've made in my journey can be forgiven. For that, I'm truly blessed and thankful for his sacrifice. Not a lot of people, even though are believers, realize how truly blessed and thankful they are because of such a sacrifice.
That's the end of Lent for me. Thank you for keeping up with my Lenten posts for 2012 and I hope it was blessed one for you as it was for me during my journey. See you for Lent 2013. God bless!
Sometimes the most significant fruit isn't what happens during lent but the confidence and clarity that can develop as a result of making the effort and following through on the intention.
ReplyDeleteI know you didn't give up your life at the end of the 40 days but it's still encouraging and inspiring when I see others succeed in these endeavors, which you did, 'slip up' or not.
Maybe your Lenten journey affects the world in a positive way more than you might think;)