I hope everyone had a fabulous Mardi Gras – from what I could hear outside (we live in the French Quarter) people really seemed to have been enjoying themselves.  This morning when I went to drop Aaron off at work, we saw people staggering about with drinks in their hands…I guess they don’t care that today is Ash Wednesday.  When the clock struck midnight, the start of Ash Wednesday and Lent descendant upon us.

Lent is the season before Easter, in the West lasting liturgically from Ash Wednesday until the Mass of Holy Thursday. The evening of Holy Thursday begins the The Easter Triduum, which lasts from Holy Thursday to the Evening Prayer of Easter Day. However, Lenten fasting and penance continue until the end of Holy Week, and all of Holy Week is included in the traditional 40 day Lenten fast, despite Lent ending liturgically on Holy Thursday.

The purpose of Lent is to be a season of fasting, self-denial, Christian growth, penitence, conversion, and simplicity. Lent, which comes from the Teutonic (Germanic) word for springtime, can be viewed as a spiritual spring cleaning: a time for taking spiritual inventory and then cleaning out those things which hinder our corporate and personal relationships with Jesus Christ and our service to him. Thus it is fitting that the season of Lent begin with a symbol of repentance: placing ashes mixed with oil on one’s head or forehead. However, we must remember that our Lenten disciplines are supposed to ultimately transform our entire person: body, soul, and spirit. Our Lenten disciplines are supposed to help us become more like Christ. Eastern Christians call this process theosis, which St. Athanasius aptly describes as “becoming by grace what God is by nature.” (Source: Churchyear.net)

For 2010, Lent began today on 17 February and ends on 3 April.

In modern society, full Lenten fasting is not very popular…instead it’s been replaced with “giving one or two things up” for lent.  All over twitter this morning, people are discussing what they are going to give up for lent: #lent.  Red meat, alcohol, and chocolate seem to dominate the list…followed by fast food.

Lent Fasting: The Diet of Self-Discovery

“In the secular world, ‘fasting’ means abstaining from all food and drink, but in religious circles, ‘fasting’ means going on a disciplined diet. The purpose of a fast is to find out who is in control, you or your belly, and to win that control if necessary. It’s also a way of using your appetite as a spiritual snooze alarm that moves you to pray.” Karl Loren Happiness

Fasting or giving up whatever is on your list is about dedicating yourself to a challenge and to a cause for the next 40 days and in the process discovering more about yourself. Who is in control? How do you deal without the things you love the most? What kind of mind of matter and willpower do you possess? Are you willing to go on a journey of self-discovery for 40 days?  It’s amazing how many of us can’t bother do commit to change for 40 days.  We have become so narcissistic and unwilling to see our own shortcomings.

Fasting is dieting on an entirely new level for people looking to lose weight and fasting is something entirely foreign to someone who has never dieted in his or her life.

I encourage you to give up most, if not all the foods and comforts in life you love the most for the next 40 days.  Open a journal and start chronicling how you feel, what you’re experiencing, why you miss the things you miss, and how your attitude, energy level and life is affected.

I’m giving up chocolate, Nutella, red meat, all meat on Friday, and diet soda.  I would never give these things up as part of a regular diet; instead I would choose to consume them in moderation – but I commit myself to not having them until April 3^rd.

Now it’s your turn…what kind of fasting are you planning to do during lent?