A personal question

Can I ask you a personal question?  What are you taking up for Lent?
No, this is not a typing error!  I really am asking you, 'What are you taking up for Lent?'
It seems an odd question to ask since, normally, everyone tells us what they are giving up for Lent - whether it's chocolate, puddings, or those little treats we indulge ourselves in.
Giving things up for Lent, embarking on a period of abstinence in the period leading up to Easter has a long and honourable history.
Abstinence is intended to help us focus our minds on God more clearly.  It is intended to help us prepare for the good news of Easter day by giving us time to reflect on our lives and our need for God's grace.
It is a period which is supposed to remind us of the time that Jesus spent in the desert resisting temptation and, as such, aid our own powers of resistance and strengthen our trust in God.
It is, of course, all encapsulated in the tradition of the pancake - using up the fat and rich ingredients around the kitchen before this period of abstinence.
So, this idea of taking something up for Lent may seem a little odd.
In our modern world, giving up the odd bar of chocolate is neither here or there.  After all, many of us are trying different diets pretty frequently!
But, if we accept that Lent is a good time to focus on God, to recognise our need for his grace and forgiveness, it may be better to take something up that will help us in this way and aid our development as God's people.
Perhaps we might consider reading a whole gospel, bit by bit, over Lent and let God speak to us afresh through the experience.
We might take up following a Lent Study Book and have our hearts and minds challenged by it. St Andrew's Bookshop will be happy to advise you!  Or perhaps we might consider enriching our prayer life, spending more time in regular prayer and personal meditation.  There is even the option of attending our 'Living with God in the everyday' group.
Whatever you do - take something up and use Lent creatively!  Now, where did I put that bar of chocolate?
 

by Graham Clarke.