What will You Give Up for Lent?

Peace is the Promise of Lent

Making change usually means giving up the old and taking on the new. 

I grew up in a non-liturgical church which didn't celebrate Lent. It wasn't until just a few years ago that I was part of a congregation that celebrates Lent. So I had a lot to learn.

Lent is a forty-day liturgical season that initiates the most sacred part of the Christian year.  Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes Easter. Sundays aren't counted for some reason.

The word Lent actually comes from the Old English lencten, which means "lengthen."  It refers to the lengthening of the daylight hours that occurs in the northern hemisphere as spring approaches.  It is in this period of transition from late winter to early spring that the season of Lent falls.

Forty is a number that has a lot of Biblical significance.

It rained for 40 days. Moses was on the mountain for 40 days receiving the Ten Commandments. Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Elijah went 40 days into the wilderness. The people of Nineveh fasted and mourned for 40 days in response to the preaching of Jonah. Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days after which he as tempted by Satan. Jesus was among his disciples for 40 days after the resurrection before He ascended into heaven. So it seems logical that Lent lasts 40 days.

Why practice Lent? 

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “the purpose of Lent is to provide that purification by weaning men from sin and selfishness through self-denial and prayer, by creating in them the desire to do God’s will and to make His kingdom come by making it come first of all in their hearts.”

What does this mean to us? 

Looking at the concept of Lent from a secular perspective, it’s a time when we give something up; a time when we make sacrifice.

Maybe we give up some of our comfort zone. Maybe we give up beliefs and thoughts that are dear to us. Maybe we give up habits that have the capacity to hurt us and hold us back from where we might be otherwise.

Comfort zone 

That’s a subjective term. Your comfort zone might be horrendous to someone else because you may have gotten comfortable in an atmosphere of pain and negativity that you know than you might be in the unknown of the alternatives. So we say, “I’ll just deal with it,” and continue trudging through our lives.

Beliefs and Thoughts 

Again, the impact of beliefs and thoughts is subjective. It’s true that you were hurt. And the recurring thoughts that you have represent something that truly happened. And you may take some satisfaction in the vengeance you deal out every time you think about those painful things.

Habits 

We get comfortable where we are and reconcile that this is the hand we were dealt and we’ll just play it. Maybe I eat too much. It doesn't hurt anybody but me. Maybe I languish in a menial job. It’s my life. I’m not hurting anybody else. I speak my mind. Don’t I have the right to do that?

Giving up for Lent 

Think about giving up your painful comfort zone and spending your 40 days seeking a peaceful lifestyle.

Why not give up debilitating thoughts in favor of personal peace?

Why not give up habits that hold you back and offend others and take up new habits?

You can do all that and more if you’ll let the course, Finding Personal Peace, show you how.

Why not give up emotional pain for Lent?

Why not give up negative thinking for Lent?

Why not give up old habits for Lent? Forty days later, you might not recognize yourself.

God bless,

www.findingpersonalpeace.com

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A Room for Your Relationships

Room for your Relationships

Relationships need rooms in which to grow to be healthy and fulfilling

Why the “room” metaphor?

Rooms establish boundaries. Big rooms; small rooms; unrestricted rooms; confining rooms.

Take a look at the rooms you've built for your relationships. Do they enhance or stifle the relationship? They don’t have to be the same for all your relationships; but experience says that they have similarities because we all tend to patterns. Let’s look at characteristics of a couple of the rooms.

Rooms that Restrict

When you consider your relationships, do your rooms restrict or limit your partner? Some of us want to keep our partners in narrow boundaries. Maybe it feeds from our uncertainty. Maybe we enjoy the power we would like to have over someone. Maybe we resist change.

Do you use your relationship to control or manage your partner? Do you expect your partner to fit into the mould you’ve created? Do you validate the relationship by how well your partner conforms to the terms you dictate.

Do you give your partner the freedom to make their own decisions; or do you make those decisions yourself?

If you’ve designed a room that confines your partner, your relationship is most likely doomed to fail.

Rooms that Grow

Your relationships need to have room to grow.

Children – as your children mature, the rooms need to grow to accommodate their new maturity and the ability to make their own choices, for example. You can’t healthfully keep a 15-year-old in a room designed for a 5-year old.

Spouses – All of us need the space to explore interests and activities that are fulfilling or expansive for us. It takes an attitude of trust to encourage new ventures for a partner. Stepping outside the room does not break the relationship; it just reveals another layer of beauty or interest in the partner. Let the room  - let the partner - grow.

Encourage your partners to expand their lives. Make a sincere effort to enjoy their expanding world. It might be necessary to let them move into another room where you don’t want to go. Their being there doesn’t necessarily damage your relationship as long as you are supportive.

Why the Metaphor?

Rooms can be comfort zones. If each partner knows where their partner’s boundaries are, they have freedom and flexibility to live within those walls. If there are no walls – no boundaries – how can a partner know when they step into uncomfortable space for their partner?

Rooms can be defined through open communication. Share your feelings and attitudes on a wide range of subjects – anything that comes up. You’ll soon know where the “no-step” areas are. It’s okay to have some protected corners in your room because knowing they’re there gives the partners freedom to move everywhere else.

One thinks that the “room” concept is simply providing for a safe environment for a relationship to grow and prosper.

Consider your Thoughts

If you find yourself thinking thoughts that limit your partner or limit your participation in one of their rooms, it may be time to consider and dismiss those thoughts, especially if you value the relationship.

Managing such thoughts is the focal point of Finding Personal Peace. If you find peace in your relationships, you’ll have great peace in your life

Go for it!



www.findingpersonalpeace.com

Thanks for reading our blog today. I invite you to respond in several ways: (1) Comment in the space below if you agree or disagree with what I've said. A dialogue could be interesting for all; (2) Share the post with your friends. There are buttons below for Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites; and (3) sign up for an email with each new post. There’s a place to do that on the right. Then you won’t have to remember to look for subsequent posts. Thanks again!