Lent: A Journey in Spiritual Discipline

I admit it.  I've never given up anything for Lent.  Part of the reason is due to the fact that I never actually "had to"  (it was more of a suggestion rather than a requirement).  No, I didn't switch churches, and I still don't "have to" give anything up for Lent, but I was missing part of the point of this whole Lenten sacrifice thing.

This year my church as taken a different spin on the tradition of Lenten sacrifice.  We printed off bookmarks and handed them out to those in attendance at Wednesday night worship during this Lenten season.  We were encouraged to keep these bookmarks someplace where we would see them regularly in order to remind us of the depth and true nature of the spiritual journey upon which we were about to embark.

Instead of following the tradition of giving one thing up for Lent, we were given a list of 6 different aspects of our lives that we would focus on during each week.  The idea was to be able to build a stronger relationship with Christ through more areas in our lives than that gained through the sacrifice of one indulgence for a full 40 days.  I thought it was an interesting twist and one worth blogging about.  The following is from the bookmark:

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Lent is a season of 40 days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon word lenchten, which menas "spring." The season is a preparation for celebrating Christ's victory over death on Easter Sunday.

To assist our faith community in this journey, we will focus on a unique spiritual dscipline each of the 6 weeks of Lent. You will be challenged to give up something new each week, replacing it with  spiritual discipline such as prayer, fasting, givng to the poor, etc. Our prayer is that by engaging in these disciplines, you will draw closer in relationship to your Savior Christ Jesus.

March 9: Hallowed be Thy Name
Focus:  Giving up a form of media (TV, Radio, Newspaper, etc.) and replacing with prayer.

March 16: Thy Kingdom Come
Focus: Giving up a social activity and replacing with service to an organization or individual.

March 23: Thy Will be Done
Focus: Giving up social media (Facebook, email, etc.) and replacing with scripture reading and devotions.

March 30: Give us this Day our Daily Bread
Focus: Fasting for a day or giving up a comfort food or drink (dessert, alcohol, coffee) and replacing with financial support and prayer for the poor.

April 6: Forgive us our Trespasses, as we Forgive those who Trespass against us
Focus: Giving up a grudge and replacing with prayer for our enemies and seeking reconciliation.

 
April 13: Lead us not into Temptation, but Deliver us from Evil
Focus: Giving up individualism and replacing with accountability and mentorship.

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The good news: Because the ultimate sacrifice as already been made through the blood shed by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the cross, no further sacrifice is necessary among believers to gain admittance into Heaven.  Lent is a season for prayer, humility, honor and glory to God in remembrance of what He has done for us.  Personal sacrifice, although not required as a merit to receive the grace and mercy that God has shown us, does have benefit in the penitent heart and prayerful stance called forth in building a stronger relationship with our Father in Heaven.  

As God's children we are called to spread the good news of this Gospel to all the earth.  Not with a pious "My Lenten sacrifice is greater than thine" attitude, but with good cheer and pure hearts.  In building a stronger relationship with our Lord in our own lives, we are better able to serve Him and spread this good news!

Here's to Days Just Packed with spiritual discipline this Lenten season and spreading the Gospel to others!

Peripheral Vision

My last post talked about anticipation, and looking forward to certain things in your life that you have deemed to be significant.  Goals are good!  In building on that philosophy I've decided that it would be appropriate to write a little something about plans.  What is a plan?  I looked it up on Wiki: "A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with timing and resources, used to achieve an objective."  Nice definition.  Plans are separate from goals--check.
 
Over the past year or so my ideas about making plans have experienced a drastic shift.  There's something about living by myself in a new setting that has brought out the more spontaneous side of my nature.  Once I got over the shock of "Wow, I really just moved to Denver and hardly know anyone-- now what?" I came to the realization that I'm at a wonderful stage in my life where, save for specific things like work and church, my schedule rests almost entirely on me.  I have several hours each day that I can fill with...  This scared me.  I'm the type of person who feels a need to be productive, a need to work towards accomplishing something.  How could I possibly plan out that much free time toward productive things?!  I felt a bit overwhelmed, so something had to change.

Back in the day, blinders were used on carriage horses so that they could only see straight ahead to the task at hand.  If they were allowed to use their peripheral vision, they would become distracted or spooked.  I think this example fits fairly well.  I no longer wear my blinders; I'm not a carriage horse.  Even though I may be distracted, or even spooked, if I'm "allowed" to see anything other than a direct path, I gain a new world of possibilities in how I can accomplish my goals.  Is this the safest way? No.  Does life need to always be safe?

I quit planning.  I started doing.  Problem solved.  There is a time and a place for making plans...but I'm actually at a loss as to when and where that may be-- maybe if you're working for NASA blasting people into outer-space or something of that magnitude, but that's a little bigger deal than "how am I going to spend my weekend."  This doesn't mean that I just wander around aimlessly without purpose or reason; if that were the case, I wouldn't get anything done.  I still have purpose, and I still have goals.  What I mean is that in looking at a theoretical map of "Point A" to "Point B," I no longer feel a need to have a set list of scheduled steps (an itinerary) to go along with it.  My goal is to get to Point B...go!  There are so many more adventures to be had, things to learn, and potential mistakes to learn from if you allow yourself the freedom to do so.  And I actually get more done-- who knew?!

Here's to Days Just Packed with peripheral vision!

Anticipation

I've been looking forward to a lot of things lately.  I wouldn't necessarily say that any of them could be placed in the "momentous" or "earth-shattering" category, but I still await their arrival with anticipation, and regardless of how important they may end up being in the long run, I'm still excited.  It's good to have something to look forward to; it means you're looking up from you're day-to-day life in order to see what is waiting for you just over the horizon.  Even if what you see in the distance remains unclear, that's what makes it so exciting-- it's an adventure!

What am I looking forward to?  My list may sound simple, and a little silly, but I still find adventure and mystery in it.  Trying out the cheap pair of skis I bought on Craig's List, spending a random Saturday at Blackhawk with some friends, playing volleyball on Sunday nights, finally being able to have a conversation in German, the first pitch of the year, beer and peanuts at Coors Field, the first time I walk outside this Spring and smell rain-- my list could go on and on.  Simple, yet satisfying.

What is life like without looking forward to something?  What would the future look like without goals?  That's one thing I intend to not find out! 

Here's to Days Just Packed with anticipation.

Sabbatical

Sabbatical: (from Latin sabbaticus, from Greek sabbatikos, from Hebrew Shabbat i.e., Sabbath, literally a "ceasing").

That's my explanation anyway for not writing any form of blog post for the past 4 or 5 months. I didn't actually take a sabbatical from work or life or anything interesting like that-- just from blogging. It seems like the motivation to do some things goes in waves, and I guess my blog has just been setting at low tide for awhile!

Regardless of reasoning behind motivation levels, I've decided to give the blog a little jump-start. CLEAR!

Hold on to your hats!

Fantasy Football

I'm at it again! I just joined a fantasy football team, so that means...Logo design! Oh yeah, and setting up my draft (I better get on that). Anyway, In order to get my logo over to my team page, I have to have it referenced somewhere on the web. I figure my blog is a good place to do this so enjoy!


Oh, and here's to Days Just Packed with watching football and making cool logo designs that make my team look good even if we lose.

Avatar *Spoiler Alert!*

Ok, so I finally watched Avatar this last weekend. I wasn't necessarily avoiding watching the movie, it just was never particularly high on my list for whatever reason. eventually, I found out what this reason was. It wasn't bad, but throughout most of the movie I felt like I already knew what was going to happen next. I couldn't put my finger on it until...

I was hit by a wave of inspiration. Avatar: Pretty much the grown-up, sci-fi version of Disney's Pocahontas. It's true! The more technologically-advanced people travel to a new world in search of precious minerals. These people consider the natives to be savages and don't seem to have any problems with destroying them or their world in order to get what they want. A soldier (John Smith) attempts to get to know them and understand them and finds out that they have their own technology by way of their connection with the world around them. The natives answer to a tree spirit (Grandmother Willow). The soldier falls in love with one of the natives and eventually ends up taking their side. Don't get me wrong, the underlying message, if taken in this way, is good. Respect others, respect their lands and way of life, respect nature, etc. I know that it's been forever since I've seen it, but this just might also line up pretty well with Ferngully. Seems like it would.

Had I not seen these movies as a child, I may have enjoyed Avatar a little more-- or maybe not; I don't know. As it was, the plot "just ok" and I was really sad that my little TV wasn't able to give me the 3-D effects that would have made it a little better.

Anyway, that's just my take on it. It was a very symbolic movie, and there were several different ways to interpret it. I've heard a few other interpretations, but they aren't nearly as nice!

Inception: Now THERE's a GOOD movie! I just saw it the other night at the theater. Amazing! Go watch it.

Here's to Days Just Packed watching movies like Inception and not Avatar (even though you have to watch a few crappy movies too just so you appreciate the really good ones!)

More than 31 flavors.

I guess I should officially declare August to be "Music Month." It seem like music is always on my mind lately, or at least it has been the only 'blog-worthy' thing on my mind. In the middle of last week I managed to exceed my 40-hour monthly music quota on Pandora. This would have been around Aug. 10 or 11. At any rate, it was a new record. Forty-hours of music in about 7 days if you take out the weekends.

I often show up to work in the morning, fire up my computer, pour a cup of coffee, and start up Pandora. Pandora can be summed up in one word:

greatmusicplayinginthebackgroundandIdon'thavetomesswithithardlyever

Yes, I love my Pandora account because I can go there, pick a station I have custom made to fit a certain style of music, and then just let it play in the background as I work. The only times I ever really have to mess with it is to pause when someone comes into my office to talk, to tell it I really don't like the song it picked out (not likely), or to tell it that it should play more songs like the one it just played (I usually only do this enough times for it to get the idea).

I have 18 different Pandora stations. I know that my title said "More than 31 flavors," but I lied-- 31 sounds better. Anyway, picking a station to listen to in the morning is like asking myself, "Hmmm...what flavor should I pick today?" Like picking out ice cream, it really depends on my mood and how I feel. For example, this week's menu included dixieland/jazz today, gypsy punk/ska on Thursday, the kind of stuff you hear at Starbucks on Wednesday, "old vocals" like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Perry Como (<----odd one out?) on Tuesday, and Monday was 80's music. I'm surprised that the musical side of my brain hasn't been turned into blended mush with all the different kinds of music I throw at it.

For the curious, my current favorite is the Starbucks blend. It's really catchy, but still relaxing. I can tap my foot, but it's not hard-driving rock or chair-bouncing jazz. I give it my "Best Flavor for the Workplace" rating. Speaking of work...

Here's to Days Just Packed with the many flavors of music! (just not all mixed together at once, because a "music blendie" may be a horrible, horrible thing).