Lent is the time in the church calendar that runs from Ash Wednesday (this year that's the 14th of February) through to Easter Day (which is Sunday 1 April 2018). Traditionally Lent is the period of preparation in the run-up to the events of Easter - the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. A time of reflection and repentance - which in certain church traditions is often accompanied by fasting. It is also identified with Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness during which time he fasted (e.g. Matthew 4:1-11)
Lent lasts for 40 days but if you've looked at a calendar you will have noticed that there are actually 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. That's because the six Sundays during this time do not count as days of fasting - Sundays are always a day of celebration as we remember and celebrate the resurrection.
Many people, even those with little or no church contact, will give something up for Lent - often this will be chocolate, although in recent years we have been encouraged to be a little bit more imaginative, giving up things like Facebook or television. Within some cultures it is common to go without fish for Lent. Other cultures with have different traditions. This 'doing without' builds on the fasting element that is traditionally a part of Lent.
Although I have no hard statistics to prove this, I get the sense that over recent years the observance of Lent has grown in popularity. I don't know if it's the result of the breaking down of some of the traditional barriers between different denominations; or the appearance of new and creative ways to observe Lent; or the fact that we are exposed to such a wide spectrum of ideas on Social Media - but whatever it is, you may be thinking about what you're going to do this Lent.
As well as the traditional giving something up approach many Christians are now using Lent as a spur to do something positive.
Perhaps most well known of these is 40 Acts. When you visit their website (click here) you are greeted with the message:
The challenge is to use each day of Lent to do something generous. And whether you're an individual, a church, a family, a school... there will be different ways that you can get involved and they will have the resources to help you.
Others might choose to sign up to a 40-day reading programme - maybe using an actual book, or often through an App or daily email service. If you're a regular user of Social Media then you'll probably start to see them appearing in the next few days.
I've also seen other ideas, such as a Plastic-less Lent - click here - looking to use Lent as the springboard to develop habits that are good for the environment and learn along the way. I'm sure that as Ash Wednesday approaches there will be other interesting ideas showing up on my Twitter feed each day.
Anyway, with just over a week to go until Ash Wednesday it's time to think about what I'm doing for Lent this year.
