Get Ready for Lent: Sharing Our Resources

From the beginning, part and parcel of the Lenten observance has been alms giving. 
The purpose of fasting is not so much a bodily discipline as it is a sharing discipline.  Becoming aware of the needs of others, and responding to them with generous gifts of our time and talents and money are particularly transforming.

During this season, many of our Presbyterian Churches will be emphasizing our One Great Hour of Sharing as a concrete way of self-sacrifice for the needs of others. 
The discipline of a daily gift to the One Great Hour of Sharing jar is a concrete way of focusing our thoughts on our individual purpose for living.
It becomes an expression of the faith we proclaim. 

Get Ready for Lent: Receive Free Musical Devotions

Lent Musical Devotions…

by Steve Eulberg

Imagine this:  A twice-weekly email playing gentle music of instrumental ensembles featuring dulcimers, gentle vocals and guitars and videos with instrumental music, together with a message of preparation that is serene, clear-sighted and hope-filled–an anti-dote to the dazed Spring atmosphere that is the backdrop for LENT.
LENT is the 40-day season in the Christian tradition that precedes the celebration of Easter.  Traditionally in the church year this is a season of preparation for baptism, or a season of fasting and giving something up, or, for taking up a new discipline, a season of reflection, repentance and renewal of faith.
This is free and available to you and anyone with whom you share this.

February 19, 2017 by steve@owlmountainmusic.com (Edit)

Get Ready for Lent: Remember to Take Time to Take a Time Out

Lent begins March 1.
Lent encourages us to look within ourselves to see how we have confused popular cultural values with Christian faith.  

We need Lent!

From the very earliest times, Christians took time out before Easter to reflect on their faith, cultivate it, and prepare for a most joyous celebration of Easter.

Remembering that Jesus took 40 days off to prepare for the beginning of his ministry,
the church sets aside these 40 days prior to Easter for us to get ready.

This is a time for us to explore the mysteries of the universe, looking beneath the surface – within ourselves -- examining our own motives and desires, and ascertaining exactly what our commitment is: to what, to whom, and what it means.

At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus went out into the desert for 40 days.
For 40 days he lived without food or, presumably water.
For 40 days he confronted his demons.
For 40 days he prayed.
For 40 days he communed with his God.

Suffice it to say, upon completion of his 40 days in the desert, Jesus had a clearer picture of his purpose in life,
of his reason for being,
of his God-given mission.
And he embarked on his course of demonstrating the reign of love on earth.

Traditionally, the church has set aside these 40 days prior to Easter as a time for personal reflection toward discovery of our purpose and renewed commitment to our faith.

Many cultures make a lot over the fasting nature of these 40 days.
Carnival is celebrated in many parts of the world the day before Lent begins as the last chance to eat meat for 40 days!
In this country Mardi Gras is celebrated in New Orleans on “fat Tuesday” – the day before the 40 day fast begins.

Today, we see these 40 days as an opportunity to attend to the parts of our lives that we often neglect.  We are challenged to open ourselves in new ways to the Spirit’s transforming power.

Because Presbyterians rebelled against all things Catholic, Lent was never celebrated in most Presbyterian churches until  recent years.  But, Lent is such a rich time.
It is an excellent opportunity for us to really focus on things that matter.

Lent is meant to remind us that the days are getting longer –
Spring is right around the corner.  
Signs of life are preparing to bud right in front of our eyes.
And,  we need to prepare ourselves to see these signs!

We need Lent!
Lent encourages us to look within ourselves to see how we have confused popular cultural values with Christian faith.
Through a sustained focus on the life and ministry of Jesus, Lent can help us resist the pressures of this culture.
Lent can remind us that we are called to continue his ministry:  "As the Father has sent me, so I send you"  (John 20:21). 
Consequently, Lent prepares us for an Easter that is more than bunnies and eggs,
an Easter that begins a whole new reality – a whole new world.

From the beginning, part and parcel of the Lenten observance has been alms giving. 
The purpose of fasting is not so much a bodily discipline as it is a sharing discipline.  Becoming aware of the needs of others, and responding to them with generous gifts of our time and talents and money are particularly transforming.

During this season, many of our Presbyterian Churches will be emphasizing our One Great Hour of Sharing as a concrete way of self-sacrifice for the needs of others. 
The discipline of a daily gift to the One Great Hour of Sharing jar is a concrete way of focusing our thoughts on our individual purpose for living.
It becomes an expression of the faith we proclaim. 

Get Ready for A Radical Lent: Fasting and Feasting

Fast from fear;
     Feast on faith.
Fast from despair;
     Feed on hope.
Fast from depressing news;
     Feed on prayer.
Fast from discontent;
     Feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger and worry;
     Feed on patience.
Fast from negative thinking;
     Feast on positive thinking.
Fast from bitterness;
     Feed on love and forgiveness.
Fast from words that wound;
     Feast on words that heal.
Fast from gravity;
     Feed on joy and humor.
Fast from gossip;
     Feast on the Gospels.
Fast from junk foods;
     Feast on the Bread of Life.
Fast from bad news;
     Feast on “The Good News.”
Fast from darkness;
     Feast on the Light.
Fast from the secular;
     Feast on the sacred.
Fast from despair;
     Feast on hope.
Fast from revenge;
     Feast on forgiveness.
Fast from tears of sorrow;
     Feast on tears of joy.
Fast from getting;
    Feast on giving.
Fast from complexities;
    Feast on simplicities.
Fast from horror;
     Feast on humor.
Fast from listlessness;
     Feast on laughter.

Get Ready for Lent . . .

Get Ready for Lent: Suggestions for Fasting (And Feasting)

Fast from fear;
     Feast on faith.
Fast from despair;
     Feed on hope.
Fast from depressing news;
     Feed on prayer.
Fast from discontent;
     Feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger and worry;
     Feed on patience.
Fast from negative thinking;
     Feast on positive thinking.
Fast from bitterness;
     Feed on love and forgiveness.
Fast from words that wound;
     Feast on words that heal
Fast from gravity;
     Feed on joy and humor.

Get Ready for Lent: 100 Things to do for Lent

"Do you realize how soon Ash Wednesday is? Shoot, y’all, it’s time to start praying on what you’re going to do for Lent."

A few years ago,   Meg Hunter-Kilmer posted 100 Things to do for Lent . . .
organanized around the three pillars of Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

Peruse for some great ideas for stimulating your observance of Lent this year.

Get Ready for Lent: 100's of Resources for You to Use

Links to hundreds of web pages filled with resources for study, reflection, worship/liturgical preparation, lovingly and thoughtfully compiled by  Jenee Woodward.  

This page should be the preacher’s first stop on the road to worship preparation and planning, as well as the first stop for anyone wishing to find resources for a particular day, season, or scripture.

Check it out.

Get Ready for Lent: A Time to Think of Things Spiritual

Lent begins March 1st

 
Traditionally, Christians have taken time before Easter to think on things spiritual.

Taking clues from Jesus who before beginning his ministry took a 40 day hiatus, the church has set aside this amount of time during this season when the days lengthen to concentrate on how the faith we profess affects the life we lead.

Through the years, people have used different tools to encourage such thoughts. 

Recalling that the Bible says that Jesus fasted for 40 days, many people choose a form of that to help place them in the proper mindset to receive and perceive spiritual thoughts.





The idea of “giving something up” for Lent became a substitute for an all-out fast for Westerners living in an increasingly secular society.

But, we all know that negative behavior in itself does little to stimulate Spiritual thoughts.  And, far more important than giving up something for Lent is a proactive behavior specifically designed to encourage thoughts about our faith and the life we lead.

And, so each of us is encouraged to do something specific during this time before Easter:

    •   read a book,  (Meeting  Jesus Again for the First Time, by Marcus Borg, will certainly  generate thoughts and stimulate conversation with others)

    •  use a daily devotional guide to help stimulate your thoughts, (if you already  use one on a regular basis,  add another specifically designed to stimulate new thoughts for the season.)
 
    • pray (set aside a certain time each day,  or place a post-it-note with the word “PRAY” on your computer or in a prominent place to remind you that the proper time to pray is any time, all the time)

    • do something for others  you  have not done before (perhaps write a note to             people on  your Christmas card list –  just think what the recipient  will think  when they hear from  you from “out of the blue”,   so to speak)

    • Come to church every Sunday  until Easter 

Whatever you choose to do, I encourage you to choose to do something during this season. 

You will find your faith stimulated and your life enhanced.

This season, this Lent, can be of tremendous significance to you – if you let it, if you participate in it.

Get Ready for Lent: 40 Acts of Generosity

Let begins March 1st. 

This year, do Lent differently, 
     do Lent courageously, 
          do Lent generously. 

Stretch your faith and change your community.
One day at a time.
One act at a time.
 
Try the 40 Acts challenge on for size: for yourself, your family, you congregatiion.

Get Ready for Lent: Alternative WorshipResources

Nearly 50 Links and articles collected by Simple Living - the folks formerly known as Alternatives and Alternatives for Simple Living, publishers of the Alternative Christmas Catalogue, Whose Birthday Is It Anyway?, And various publications promoting alternative celebrating.


Check it out.  There are resources for personal and corporate worship, devotions, family and group celebrations, Holy Week  and Easter observances.

http://bit.ly/2llcTH6

Reclaiming Lent

We need Lent . . .
 
Traditions are the vehicles by which faith, values and the fundamental sense of
what is really important is passed from one generation to another. 
The effort to keep Christian and pagan traditions separate is a continuing struggle for
Christians. Traditionally, Lent has played an important part in this struggle.

Originally a season of fasting and penance for new converts preparing for baptism on Easter Eve, Lent is a period of 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter.
Sundays, days when fasts could be broken, are not included in the 40 days.
The 40 days of Lent correspond to Jesus' 40-day fast in the wilderness in preparation for his ministry.

When Christianity became the state religion of the Roman empire in the fourth century, the foundation of the church was endangered by throngs of new untutored members. Identification with Jesus through the lenten fasts and practices of self-renunciation was meant to counter the paganism of these new converts. 
Lent became a time of re-commitment; a time to ward off the threat of assimilation into the popular culture.

As in earlier days, Christians today are threatened with becoming a part of the popular culture. In fact, assimilation has already occurred to such a degree that it is hard to tell what differentiates Christian faith from popular culture.
The popular celebrations of Christmas and Easter are poignant reminders of this dilemma. In addition to the annual Easter clothes, card, flower and candy blitz, attempts by business to make Easter a "Second Christmas" has spawned an Easter-oriented toy industry and a massive live-animal business, with millions of rabbits, baby chicks and ducks sold each year.
"What happened on the third day?" asked one church school teacher to a group of preschoolers one Easter morning. "The Easter bunny brought eggs," was the immediate and unequivocal reply.

We need Lent! Lent encourages us to look within ourselves to see how we have confused popular cultural values with Christian faith. 
Through a sustained focus on the life and ministry of Jesus, Lent can help us resist the pressures of this culture. Lent can remind us that we are called to continue his ministry:
"As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (John 20:21). Consequently, Lent prepares us for an Easter that is more than bunnies and eggs, an Easter when we celebrate God's great act in raising Jesus from the dead.
 Adapted from a piece published by Alternatives no longer published.

10 Tips for a Simpler More Meaningful Easter

1. Plan ahead. Instead of going on auto-pilot, hold a family meeting to decide what the group really wants to do and who’s going to do what. Observe Lent for 40 days before Easter, possibly with a study/action/prayer guide or calendar.

2. Focus on relationships with family, friends and other people, and with God, rather that on “stuff.” Spend your time, energy and money nurturing people, not things.

3. For a symbol of Easter, look to Jesus’ resurrection. Bunnies, eggs and candy have been taken over by commerce. Do they tell the story you want to tell? Let’s tell the real stories of our faith and values. Reserve fertility rites for the first day of Spring, March 21st; Earth Day, April 22nd or May Day, May 1st.

4. Avoid debt and gluttony. Refuse to be pressured by advertising to over spend or over eat. Build community with a meal of mostly locally produced food – planned, prepared and cleaned up by the whole family.

5. Avoid stress. Give to yourself. Don’t assume that things have to be the same way they’ve always been. Make changes slowly but persistently. Don’t try to change everything and everybody all at once. The resistance may make you feel defeated and lonely.

6. If you need to give gifts, give appropriate ones. Get to know the recipient. Give what they want to receive, not what you want to buy. Give children one thing they really want, rather than many gifts. Set a price ceiling. Put gifts out shortly before opening them. Then take turns opening them, not all at once, so that each gift can be admired and each giver thanked.

7. Give alternative gifts. Give at least 25% of what you spend to the needy… individuals or groups locally, nationally or internationally.

8. Give of yourself, not just “stuff” – a coupon book for future services (such as baby-sitting or an “enchanted evening”) or something baked, sewn, handmade, composed, etc. Consider more time for volunteering rather than entertainment. If you need to give cards, make your own.

9. If you need to buy gifts and clothing, buy those from developing countries at alternative gift markets, not from commercial importers, so that the artisans receive a fair price for their work. Avoid mass produced knickknacks, novelties and toys. Fancy, expensive clothes are signs of status, not respect for God. In church they show an inappropriate blend of culture and faith. Decline to compliment people for their finery. Avoid the “ritual display of plenty” characteristic of the Easter fashion parades prevalent earlier in the century.

10. Choose simplicity of decoration over extravagance, for example, one modest, well-placed display instead of dozens of lilies in church or home. Avoid plastic and imported flowers and trimming.

NB: This article originally appeared in a publication by Alternatives for Simple Living in 1999. 
The publication is no longer available.
 
More resources to stimulate a more appropriate Lenten Observation are available: http://www.newcelebrations.com/lent.html