Lent and My Cell Phone

Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon

¹Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

blot out my transgressions.

²Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin.

from Psalm 51, a psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him,

after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

I can't say "happy Ash Wednesday!" as we enter into Lent, because this is a sombre day at the beginning of what is a contemplative season.

In my earlier life I was one of those Protestants who looked on bemusedly at Roman Catholics who gave stuff up for Lent. Weird, I thought. What was Lent anyway? Forty days leading up to Easter? We just didn't do the liturgical year in the United Church.

Lent is kinda weird, but in a good way. It is the lengthy runway of reflective intention which allows us to get airborne as we celebrate the Resurrection. Sometimes that intention involves giving things up, and it may also mean taking things on. There is a discipline to it all which connects to being followers of Jesus -- disciples. The form of this discipline changes from age to age and even over a lifetime.

In our household we are going to ramp up the number of meatless meals because it's good for our bodies and good for the planet. The critters who would have been dinner might be pleased as well.

I'm also going to give up distraction for Lent, or at least attempt to reduce distraction by dramatically reducing the use of my cell phone. I was the last of our family to get a "smart" phone which may have made me stupider, and it sure does gobble up time. We'll see how this works out. I can't deceive myself because there is a feature on my phone which will keep me honest...like Nathan did with King David. Do I see a cell phone in one of David's hands?

Any plans for Lent this year?