Every year during Lent, I attempt to deny myself some personal desire, whereby I end up whining about my not partaking in whatever I am denying myself and eventually fall into temptation, thus making my Lenten denial a failure. This annual struggle shows me the incredible power of sin over my everyday existence.
I do encourage others to enter into a period of “Lenten denial” as a way of challenging one’s self in understanding the true sacrifice — Jesus Christ. By no means is this a linkage to the sacrifice of Christ and our short-term sacrifice of chocolate (as an example); instead, it is to provide a spiritual reminder of the power of sin over our lives and the blessings of the cross of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for each one of us.
Usually, Fat Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday) is my deadline day where I struggle to make a denial decision. This way, I can pick something that “isn’t too hard.”
There is no logical reason for why I thought about Lenten denial this Sunday morning, but as I was getting ready to come over to church, that is what was on my mind. Maybe the Holy Spirit helped guide me this morning, I don’t know.
I have decided to give up television for Lent.
I will call DirecTV and suspend my account for the length of that penitential season commencing on Wednesday, February 17th and ending Easter Sunday, April 4th. My TV suspension also includes my Netflix account (that I will actually suspend tomorrow since my February renewal comes this week), any internet-based networks that stream their television shows (for example, Hulu.com or one of the major networks), and any video from iTunes.
As someone who loves sports (I have the NHL Center Ice package and watch it “religiously”), this will be challenging. Suspending my DirecTV account for that period will help, of course, but with the vast amount of highlights and streaming on the internet, I have to change my internet habits very fast. But this is going to be hard — I will miss a good chunk of the Olympics (and their terrific hockey tournament); college basketball’s conference championships and the NCAA tournament is mostly in March; the NHL season winds down, teams will be playing to gain playoff berths (including my rather hideous Rangers); and, of course, baseball spring training begins in earnest.
In place of television and sports watching, I will replace it with a concerted effort to study the Word of God deeper; I will begin to read that backlog of books on my shelf and my Kindle; and begin that writing project I’ve put off for years. Maybe I will reflect on my life, not just as a pastor, but also as a friend, colleague, and person, and try to be better in all those roles. There is also that grand possibility that I will volunteer at one of our local hospitals or for a community-based organization.
Lenten denials have become almost humorous. I know someone who told me a year or so ago that he gave up coffee for Lent. The only problem with that denial was that he didn’t drink coffee. Young people tend to give up stuff they like, for a short time. At one time, it was candy. Many still deny themselves, but that is usually just for a short period. Today, get a teen to deny themselves use of cell phone texting — they’d last all of ten minutes.
However, these denials can play a good spiritual role in the growth of a Christian as it is a reminder of the impact of tempting sin.
Time for me to forget a bit about Lent and my denial plan — it’s Sunday, and that means Divine Service at 10.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }