FISH for Lent – Year 3

Today is Ash Wednesday, which makes it the official start of Lent. 

As has been my custom in the past, I will not be posting about Lent on this blog.  Instead I will be running a second blog, FISH for Lent, where I will post daily ponderings on my Lenten Journey. 

Come on over and join me there if you are into such things.  Even if you do not do/follow/believe-in Lent, it will be quite interesting.  I will be looking at the Fruit of the Spirit, and would value your comments and opinions. 

On this blog, we will be starting the series “I have a wife, and…” from tomorrow.  So stick around and comment on that as well.

Ash what?

Lent?  Ash Wednesday?  Fasting?

Do you do any of it?

As a member of a fairly traditional mainstream church, I grew up assuming that everyone followed the same traditions as I/we did.  It was only as I got older that I realised that many (most?) believers and churches don’t bother with things like Lent.

The word Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon word lencten, meaning ‘Spring’, and also was the word for ‘March’ when lent was usually held to begin.  In the early church, new believers were baptised on Easter Sunday, and so they observed a time of fasting for 40 days prior.  It became traditional for the whole church to fast with them, recognising that they were being baptised into the Church as a body.  From this we have the modern tradition of 40 days of lent.  The 40 days were supposed to represent the 40 days that Christ fasted in the desert before beginning his public ministry.

It was also common for believers who were returning to the church to be re-admitted on the Easter Sunday.  They would traditionally make a full confession of their sins before beginning lent, and would make a mark of an Ash Cross on their forehead to symbolise their repentance.  Again, members of the early church chose to do the same thing, and began signing themselves with a Cross of Ash to symbolise that they also needed to repent and return to the Lord.

This is the origin of Ash Wednesday, where believers may choose to have a cross of Ash imposed on their forehead as a reminder of their decision to turn from sin, and follow Christ.  Tonight I will be attending an Ash Wednesday service at my church, and will be beginning a time of Lenten discipline. 

I will not be talking about Lent, or my journey, on this blog, because for those who do not follow it, it might be pretty boring.  Instead, I will be doing a daily post on my other site, FISH for Lent.

It would be great if you came over and visited me there.

Lent

Whatever we give up for Lent, we never give up our sense of humour.

Today is Ash Wednesday, as you may have noticed; and as such Lent is begun. I am going to be trying out a few new things for Lent this year.

One of which is that instead of jsut giving stuff up, I will be taking on a few new "disciplines." Some good friends of mine have started a facebook group called "The Lent Challenge" where they will be answering the question, What would happen if we all committed totally senseless acts of niceness in the name of the Lord? Everyday the members get a suggestion (two actually) for nice ways to bless others, and we try and choose one to do. Sounds cool. Come along and try it out.

Also, I will be running a seperate blog during Lent with the name FISH for Lent. I will be posting one thought a day, every day, about an area where we (I) need to work on getting closer to GOD. Then I will be taking that thought as my challenge for the day. I don't know how that will work out, but come on over and see there as well.

RDM #13 - Day of Ash

It has been about 5 months since I did a Rainy Day Monday post. For those of you who don't know what that it, it means that on Mondays I post an old blog post of my own, or someone elses, that perhaps didn't get as much recognition as it deserved. I have decided to start again, and have been stockpiling a few ideas.

If anyone has any old posts that they would like me to feature, please e-mail me at sharkbait@webmail.co.za. I will be contacting some people for permission to use posts that stuck in my memory, but feel free to volunteer something as well.

To re-open the RDM vaults, I will be posting an entry I did last year for Ash Wednesday. Technically Ash Wednesday is only on... well, Wednesday. But I thought you might want to look at it before then. So just ignore the fact that I refer to Ash Wednesday as today.

Day of Ash

I am sure I am not telling you anything you don't know by saying that today is Ash Wednesday. If I am, then... now you know. Technically known as the day of ash, this is an opportunity for Christians to attend a special church service, which includes the imposition of ashes on their forehead as a sign of penitence, and preparation for lent.

The ashes are made by burning the palm crosses and fronds left over from Palm Sunday last year. That's right; we burn last year's crosses, and keep the ashes to put on our heads this year.

Why?

Well there are many theological explanations for this, but I am just a simple FISH, and so this is how I like to see it.

Palm Sunday was the day the crowds welcomed Jesus in to the city by waving palm branches. Then five days later they cried out for his crucifixion. Five days! The same people; some of them probably still had splinters of palm branches in the hands that they made into fists to shake at Pilate. So wearing the palm cross on my forehead, reminds me of the times that I have acclaimed Jesus as lord of my life, and then turned around and betrayed him with my next breathe. The 40 days when I am figuratively wearing the ash, is 40 days where I need to focus myself on preparing myself for Easter, and my own response. 40 days where I need to try and draw closer to him, and remind myself what he did for me, and my own guilt in making it necessary. 40 days where I need to keep that 'splinter' in my proverbial hand, as a reminder not to be part of the crowd calling for his crucifixion.

Of course, that's just what it means to me.

Day of sack, day of ash.
As we burn last year’s sins,
And wear them on our brow.
So we carry other’s burdens,
and hope to lighten our own.
Day of Ash by DavidSeven

Day of Ash

I am sure I am not telling you anything you don't know by saying that today is Ash Wednesday. If I am, then... now you know. Technically known as the day of ash, this is an opportunity for Christians to attend a special church service, which includes the imposition of ashes on their forehead as a sign of penitence, and preparation for lent.

The ashes are made by burning the palm crosses and fronds left over from Palm Sunday last year. That's right; we burn last year's crosses, and keep the ashes to put on our heads this year.

Why?

Well there are many theological explanations for this, but I am just a simple FISH, and so this is how I like to see it.

Palm Sunday was the day the crowds welcomed Jesus in to the city by waving palm branches. Then five days later they cried out for his crucifixion. Five days! The same people; some of them probably still had splinters of palm branches in the hands that they made into fists to shake at Pilate. So wearing the palm cross on my forehead, reminds me of the times that I have acclaimed Jesus as lord of my life, and then turned around and betrayed him with my next breathe. The 40 days when I am figuratively wearing the ash, is 40 days where I need to focus myself on preparing myself for Easter, and my own response. 40 days where I need to try and draw closer to him, and remind myself what he did for me, and my own guilt in making it necessary. 40 days where I need to keep that 'splinter' in my proverbial hand, as a reminder not to be part of the crowd calling for his crucifixion.

Of course, that's just what it means to me.

Day of sack, day of ash.

As we burn last year’s sins,

And wear them on our brow.

So we carry other’s burdens,

and hope to lighten our own.

Day of Ash by DavidSeven