Lent

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

Yesterday we had such a great feast of pancakes. It was made extra special because for the first time everyone got to toss a pancake, even my five year old, half of it landed on the floor, but she was pretty pleased with herself nonetheless (please note, the DH picked the pancake up from the floor and ate it, this just goes to show that my floors are spotless, SPOTLESS, I tells ya...wink, wink). The traditional way to eat pancakes in the UK is to sprinkle them with caster sugar and squeeze lemon juice over them, apparently this is meant to represent the bitter-sweet nature of Lent, but I'm not sure whether that's a bit of Victorian fancy. Now, around my way there's been a riotous game of football going on every Shrove Tuesday for over 800 years. Here's a clip of the Atherstone Ball Game, we're so hard in North Warwickshire that we don't even realise when we've got a black eye! Grr!


I feel I should say that in all my 36 years I have never been to the ball game. My dad banned me from taking part way back, and being such a good girl I've done as I'm told. But it's not just we North Warwickshire folks that indulge in some medieval horseplay every Shrove Tuesday. According to Steve Roud's The English Year: there's a ball game in Sedgefield, County Durham; there's hurling in St Columb, Cornwall; there's rope-pulling in Ludlow, Shropshire. I imagine that there are all sorts of fun and games still going on throughout the towns and villages of the United Kingdom on Shrove Tuesday, and I feel so happy that every family makes pancakes, every child still gets slightly over excited about pancake day, that it's still a big deal.

So why do we feast and frolic on Shrove Tuesday? Well, it's because for the next forty days there will be no more feasting and no more festivities, and this lack of feasting and lack of festivity is the key to Lent. Lent, is traditionally, a time of mourning, penance, prayer, and this is very important, anticipation, a hyper-awareness. During Lent we contemplate Jesus Christ's forty days in the wilderness, we think about what happened in Christ's last days, we consider our own sins, we examine our personal walk with our Creator and we anticipate the magic and miracle of Easter. I think many Christians would say that they need a time in their year to do these things, and for us liturgical types this time of quiet hush is planned into the year for us.

Traditionally, Lent is marked by fasting. I have books from the 1930s which give menus for Lent, so it was not too long ago fasting was the norm, at least for those of us who are church rather than chapel! Generally, the fast consisted of giving up meat, poultry and rich dairy, but there seemed to be much libation of macaroni and cauliflower cheese, so I imagine that a little bit of cheddar was allowed!

However, in more modern times the emphasis on a traditional fast has been replaced with the idea of "giving up" some treat or vice. So, many Christians may lay off the chocolate, cigarettes and wine over the Lenten period, and I think this is what the secular world see Lent as too, a time to "give up" a vice/treat/crutch. This idea of "giving up" isn't such a bad one, is it? In times of stress if you turn to chocolate, rather than Christ, then during Lent, when your focus is on prayer and penance, then it's probably a good idea to say goodbye to all choccy treats and pray that your relationship with Christ will be enriched by the experience. But this is all so personal. Whether you fast or "give up", whether you follow one of those green-ethical Lenten diaries, whether Lent is for prayer only, it is a personal decision, one which you must decide upon thoughtfully and prayerfully.

I am fasting today, because it is Ash Wednesday. I'm following the ABC's advice and praying for those who live in Zimbabwe, who are facing hard times such as I can never imagine. I shall also fast on Good Friday. But that's probably all the fasting I'll do this Lent. However, I read in the Church of England's booklet Love Life Live Lent, that if you fast/skip a meal during Lent then you should give the cost of the skipped meal to charity, this, I think, is a jolly good idea and is a good example of the balanced Christian life: that mixture of prayer and contemplation with social action and charity. It links back to the old fashioned idea that there should be no feasting and no festivity during Lent. If I refuse that glass of wine (or two) on a Saturday night then perhaps I should give that wine money to charity, if I refuse a trip to the cinema then I should put the cinema money in the Zimbabwe money jar. Simple prayer and humble action, but it does make a difference.

There are other tips included in the booklet, such as:

• 
  
  say something nice about somebody behind their backs


• 
  
  make a real effort to recycle everything you throw away


• 
  
  buy Fair Trade.

Of course, this all sounds ridiculously simple, and it's easy to discount these ideas, and say this is what Christians should be doing every day of their lives. This is of course true. However, I'm not such a brilliant Christian. I can gossip, be greedy, rather spend Sunday morning in bed, not make eye contact with my fellow church goers (lest they ask me to do something!), I can snap at those I love, be resentful, forget about prayer, forget about Christ and I can doubt. I am a human being and a work in progress, Lent gives me the time and quiet to help me work through my sins, act upon my Christian convictions, become closer to my Creator through prayer and fasting, and give thanks for all He has done for me, and this is no bad thing.

Now, I shall leave you with a few resources which may help you if you are considering following Lent this year.

First, here are the Quaker testimonies, the Christian life condensed down to five words. Peace, Truth, Equality, Simplicity, Earth. It helps me during Lent to become very aware of the meaning of these words.

Next, here's Lichfield Cathedral's Lenten diary. Very similar in tone to the Love Life Live Lent booklet, but free and online! Hurrah! Great suggestions for social action and very lovely prayers.

Here's a link to the Love Life Live Lent booklet, this is a free download (double hurrah) but it's not too late to buy it and it costs only £1.

Oh, and this resource, from Christian Aid, is absolutely smashing.

Well, I hope my exploration of Lent has been of help to you all, I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas on Lent, whatever they are!