Another Reflection on Lent

My wife and I are giving up alcohol for Lent. In my wife's typical efficient manner, we are also using this an opportunity to lose some weight (we both gained weight as a result of becoming parents), so we are on diet.

I am confident that I can lose some weight as a result of this diet--my aim is to lose at least ten pounds--but I am also aware that to keep this weight off, i will need to keep atleast some of the discipline of this diet--I need to keep the increased excercise routine, reduce my alchol intake, and well, yes, continue to eat less.

It strikes me that the increased spiritual discipline of Lent is much like a diet--taking Lent seriously does a great deal of good, but if we don't make a consistent commitment to our sppiritual life after Lent, we lose much of what we gained.

I tend to be pretty zealous about taking Lent seriously--I attend our church's Lenten education programs, read the Bible and a devotion every day and do quite a bit of other reading on faith. But, I am also very lax in the other seasons of the Church calendar. My spiritual practices all too often get crowded out by the business of my work and family life.

So I have a Lenten resolution: that even after Lent, I will start every morning with a prayer of thanks and that every day I will spend some time with the Bible. I hope, of course, to do much more, but this seemed to me to be a good start toward making a year round commitment to my faith life.

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