This week is the first full week of Lent, a time when many people choose to give something up or stop doing something. For some people – including some who aren’t regular churchgoers – it can almost be a kind of second opportunity for those New Year’s Resolutions. I’m going to stop eating chocolate, or avoid alcohol or caffeine, or try to become vegetarian, or even quit smoking. The difference between now and January is that in Lent you have the promise that on Easter Sunday you can come back to the thing you’ve been avoiding – unless in the six week period you really have managed to break the habit!
The theological idea behind giving things up is, of course, that Lent is a time of discipline, when we examine our lives and consider how we can become more Christ-like, perhaps removing those things which can become distractions from our discipleship.
But the Christ we serve is a Christ of abundance and blessing. “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Or, in the Message translation, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of”.
So I wonder if a different way of looking at our journey through Lent is, instead of deciding what to give up, considering what we can do towards ourselves and others having that more and better life?
Of course, if smoking or alcohol is an issue for us, then giving up may well be a key part of that. But, just maybe, Lent could be about adding something in or taking something up. Perhaps that could be about taking up a new hobby that we’ve been meaning to get stuck into, or getting out and walking in the countryside or a park. Perhaps you could commit to a regular contribution towards a foodbank or a charity. Perhaps it could be as simple as making time to read your Bible and pray on a daily basis.
So I’m committing to playing my piano every day during Lent, to try and re-discover some of the proficiency I used to have. And I’m not going to give up chocolate!