Launch Into Lent 2025

 Here we are in the last few days before Lent.  Tomorrow feels like part of Lent, even though it is not.  Let me collect some fragments.

--My sister and I have been thinking about ways to live healthier lives, ways to use Lent to undergird our efforts.  I have thought of some sort of point system, less complicated than the March Madness sports grids, but something that gives points and takes points away.  So, I might gain a point for every serving of fruits and vegetables, while losing a point for every alcoholic drink. I haven't worked out many details yet, but I wanted to capture this idea.

--I also love the idea of doing our Lenten disciplines not only for ourselves, but for the larger world.  In the example above, I like the idea of making decisions and gaining points and along the way,  using those points to help us remember to pray for the health of the larger world.

--I like the idea of adding something to our Lent, instead of denying ourselves.  But I do understand the power of denial.

--My thoughts about adding something tend to revolve around reading:  reading a poem a day, reading a devotional resource especially designed for Lent, reading my way through a book of the Bible.

--This year, I'm taking a seminary class that focuses on Christmas and Easter.  We will start exploring the Easter texts soon, and I think it will be interesting to go through Lent as we explore those texts.  I've enjoyed the deep dive into the Christmas texts which stretched Christmas into January and February.

--I need to write an Ash Wednesday sermon, which is challenging because the Ash Wednesday texts stay the same each year.  I want to say something different than last year, when I used some of my best ideas.  This year feels different:  my congregation has had more deaths and then, of course, there's the national and international changes. 

Let me finish this blogging so that I can move on to the other work of the day--and the joys of the first day of Spring Break at 2 of my schools.

People Get Ready: Lent Begins in One Week

This morning, I was stunned to realize that Lent begins in one week.  Didn't we just celebrate Candlemas?  How can this baby in the Temple already be on his way to Calvary?

We're all on our way to our ashy demise.  But along the way we can do more to enrich that journey.  Many of us choose a Lenten discipline.  Many years Lent comes and goes before I can barely register it.

Let's make a list of some ways we can enrich our Lenten journeys. 

I've been thinking about how quickly we move from Advent to Christmas to Lent to Easter--and then that long season of Ordinary Time.  I'd like to have more of these special activities for summer too.

But first, Lent 2018.  How will you make this season a time apart?

There are some of the obvious ways:  giving up something for Lent, adding some special readings, or going to an extra church service during the week.  But let's not forget some of the other possibilities too:

Pray in Different Ways:

--Maybe you want to add a visual element to your prayers:  coloring or doodling or collaging.

--Keep a prayer journal and look for ways your prayers are answered.  Write them down so that you'll remember.

--Use prayer beads.  You don't need special beads.  You can string some beads together and use them to remember to pray or to keep track of your prayers.

--Explore ways to use movement as you pray.  Hold a yoga stretch and pray.  Walk a labyrinth.  Dance to show your appreciation to your creator.

Add some creativity to your days:

--Bake bread.  As you shape the bread dough, think about how God shapes you.

--Start a garden.  Or buy several bunches of flowers at the grocery store and arrange them into one bouquet.

----Write a poem about God. But before you start, fill in the following blank 25 times without thinking about it: God is like _______________________.

--Sketch or doodle or collage.

--Choose an art supply that gives you joy.  Use it once a week.

Do More Charity and/or Justice Work:

--Make an extra contribution to your favorite charity. Maybe you could make one extra contribution per week. It doesn’t have to be huge. But it could be.

--Clean out your closets. Give away anything you haven’t worn in the past year. Clean out your kitchen cupboards.

--When you go to the grocery store, buy some extra food for your favorite charity.

--Give some extra time during Lent. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or a food pantry. Go to a nursing home and sing some old Gospel songs. Think about the people you know who have lives that are falling apart; buy cards or write notes and put them in the mail.

Do Less

--Here's a radical idea.  What if our Lenten discipline was to do less?  Many years, the thought of adopting a Lenten discipline makes me want to cry because it feel like one more impossible promise I'm making to myself and God.  What if we resisted the cultural and Christian pressure to do more, more, more.  What if we consciously tried to do less?  Would we clear space in our lives to finally know what's really important to us?

Lent Approaches: Plan Now

Yesterday, I went to this wonderful website to think about coloring my way through Lent.  If you'd like to try something similar, this part of the website will give you templates to download.

And then, startled, I realized that Lent is just 2 weeks away.  I'm not quite ready to accept the fact that Christmas is over, and now it's time for Lent.  It seems like such a short time ago that I was reading my way through Henri Nouwen's Show Me the Way:  Readings for Each Day of Lent.  And now it's time to begin again.

I've been thinking about how quickly we move from Advent to Christmas to Lent to Easter--and then that long season of Ordinary Time.  I'd like to have more of these special activities for summer too.

But first, Lent 2016.  How will you make this season a time apart?

There are some of the obvious ways:  giving up something for Lent, adding some special readings, or going to an extra church service during the week.  But let's not forget some of the other possibilities too:

Pray in Different Ways:

--Maybe you want to add a visual element to your prayers:  coloring or doodling or collaging.

--Keep a prayer journal and look for ways your prayers are answered.  Write them down so that you'll remember.

--Use prayer beads.

Add some creativity to your days:

--Bake bread.  As you shape the bread dough, think about how God shapes you.

--Start a garden.  Or buy several bunches of flowers at the grocery store and arrange them into one bouquet.

----Write a poem about God. But before you start, fill in the following blank 25 times without thinking about it: God is like _______________________.

--Sketch or doodle or collage.

--Choose an art supply that gives you joy.  Use it once a week.

Do More Charity and/or Justice Work:

--Make an extra contribution to your favorite charity. Maybe you could make one extra contribution per week. It doesn’t have to be huge. But it could be.

--Clean out your closets. Give away anything you haven’t worn in the past year. Clean out your kitchen cupboards.

--When you go to the grocery store, buy some extra food for your favorite charity.

--Give some extra time during Lent. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or a food pantry. Go to a nursing home and sing some old Gospel songs. Think about the people you know who have lives that are falling apart; go buy cards and put them in the mail.

Mardi Gras: A Good Day to Think About Your Lenten Discipline

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the day that begins Lent. Will you have a Lenten discipline?

I hadn't really given it much thought until I saw a place on our worship slip that asked if we would have a Lenten discipline and if we wanted supportive e-mails.  I thought, hey, that's a good idea!

Last year I tried to give up worrying, with mixed success.  Some years I've tried to add some enrichment along the lines of nourishing reading or weekly art projects--again, with mixed success.

On Sunday, I sat quietly with the idea of a Lenten discipline to see what might rise to the surface.  Work on your memoir--that's what I heard.
So, my Lenten discipline will be to work on my memoir 3-4 days a week. I thought about pledging every day, but my travel schedule between now and Easter will defeat a daily discipline. But 3-4 times a week is both a challenge and accessible.

When I first thought of it, I thought, that can't be my Lenten discipline. I'm enjoying working on my memoir too much. I think of a Lenten discipline as something grim like giving up a pleasure like chocolate or wine or meat or sugar.

But many of us are good at self-denial. What if we gave ourselves permission to add a pleasure to our lives?  Not just any wanton pleasure, but pleasure followed by gratitude for the pleasure, happiness for the pleasures that we're able to afford.

What if, instead of waiting until we're done with our chores to do what brings us pleasure, what if we devoted ourselves to the pleasurable part of our life first?  The scrubbing and the washing can wait--go ahead and dive into that novel you've been waiting to have time to read!

I do think that a Lenten discipline should be something that strengthens and enriches our spiritual lives.  For more possibilities, you can click on the Launch Into Lent label on the right sidebar and get a host of essays that will give you more options than you can possibly adopt in one 6 week period.  Choose one and devote yourself fully.

Today is a good day to plot a road map.  What, exactly, will you do?  What benchmarks will you use to measure your success?  What supplies do you need?

Maybe today, instead of indulging in the usual Mardi Gras excess that we see advertised, we could take time to ready ourselves for our Lenten journey. 

Creative Lent: Cook!

Maybe this could be the Lent where instead of giving up food, you resolved to nourish yourself better.  To that end, here are two recipes for main dishes.  They last (likely for several weeks) in the fridge, and they get better with time, and they're very portable, and the recipes are flexible.  Don't have carrots for the soup?  No big deal.  Have cauliflower but not broccoli?  Substitute.  No chips for the casserole?  Use crackers or tortillas or just get it into your mouth with a spoon.

As you nourish yourself, think about all the ways that God nourishes you.

Bean Casserole

I always make a 9 x13 inch size pan because we eat so much of it and it's cheap. You could always do less. And almost all these ingredients keep for a long time, so you can keep them in your pantry, and you're always prepared when you need a quick meal. Makes a great party dip too (in fact, it's a variation of that old 7 layer dip).

Grease the pan (or spray with Pam).

Spread 2 cans of refried beans (make sure they're fat free if you're watching your fat intake--or experiment with different flavors if you want) across the bottom.

You could cook up some hamburger meat and spread layer of hamburger meat--but it's fine without it. I suspect that cooked chicken would also work well. If you use meat of any kind, you could spice it up however your family likes: chili powder and/or cumin are 2 that come to mind. Or go unspicy.

Spread a layer of salsa on top (I use the kind that I get in the deli--it comes in a 16 oz. container, and I think it tastes fresher. You could also use a jar or go to the canned veggies section and get a can of diced tomatoes--the kind with Mexican flavorings might be good).

Spread a layer of grated cheese over top of that (I like cheddar--the Kraft grated 2% cheddar has less fat and melts well--I often mix it with full fat grated cheddar). Use a half cup or 1 cup--or live it up and add more!

Pop the pan in a 350 oven for 15-45 minutes--you want the cheese to be bubbly and melty and the beans to warm through. I can program my oven to come on when I'm not there, and I often have this for dinner on Friday nights--I make the meatless version of the casserole in advance, leave it in the oven, and anticipate it all day long. If I run a tad late, the stuff can handle overcooking.

When the pan comes out of the oven, you could top with sour cream. Serve with tortilla chips for scooping or serve on top of a salad to boost your veggie content.

Eat until you're full. If you make this without the hamburger, the leftovers will keep 1-2 weeks in the fridge.

Enjoy!

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And because everyone has the kind of day when they just need some good soup, here's one of my favorites. It's a great way to get both veggies and the comfort of melted cheese. I've never met an adult who didn't love this soup.

Broccoli Cheddar Cheese Soup


Take a bunch of broccoli and chop it into pieces that you’ll later put in the blender or food processor. If you want, you can save some florets, steam them, and add them to the soup later—it gives the soup texture. But if time is short, don’t worry about it. Frozen broccoli would likely work just fine.

Put the broccoli pieces in your soup pot and chop up 3-6 potatoes into chunks. Add these to the pot. By now, you should have about half your pot full. You can also add 3-6 carrots (chopped into chunks), for a nice touch.

Add some fresh (chopped into chunks) or dried onion. Here are other spices that are nice: a few cloves of garlic (or garlic salt), basil, and oregano.

Put enough water in the pot to cover the vegetables. Boil until everything is mushy. Whir it all together in a blender or food processor. It will probably take several batches.

Return the soup to the pot. Add 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese. Taste to see if you want more. I usually use half a pound of grated cheese. Heat gently to melt cheese.

If you want thinner soup, add milk (of any fat level: skim to whole) or cream and heat gently.

You can create any kind of variation. Use a different main vegetable, like cauliflower. Use a different cheese. Use Mexican spices (chili powder and/or cumin) instead of the Italian above.

This soup is a variation of the soups that appear in Molly Katzen’s The Enchanted Broccoli Forest Cookbook and The Moosewood Cookbook.

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Why not experiment with bread this Lent?  Don't let bread scare you.  Like soups and casseroles, bread dough is easy, flexible, and forgives any number of sins.  I like to knead the dough, but I know that kneading scares people, so here's an easy, no-knead bread.

Epiphany/Mardi Gras Bread

2 pkg (5 ½ tsp.) active dry yeast
¼ c. warm water
2/3 c. milk
½ c. sugar
1 ½ tsp. salt
½ c. butter
3 large eggs
4 c. flour (can be part or all whole wheat)
2 c. candied fruit, and/or raisins, and/or nuts

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water with a tsp. of sugar. In a small heavy saucepan, bring the milk, butter, salt, and sugar to a boil. Once it’s cooled a bit, add the milk mixture to the yeast mixture, along with the flour, and blend.

Add the 2 cups of candied fruit, nuts, and/or raisins—or leave them out. I’ve used candied ginger with great success, and I really like dried cranberries and pecans. You can use more gourmet items, like citron. Or use the candied fruits that make an appearance during the holiday baking season.

The dough will be very sticky; fortunately, you don’t knead it. Simply let it rise. Grease 2 tube pans or bundt pans.

When the dough has doubled in size, spoon it into the pans. Let it rise again.

If you want to put prizes in the bread, you can do so before you put the bread in the oven. The traditional prize for Mardi Gras is a baby Jesus (if using plastic, stick him into the bread after baking). For Epiphany/Three Kings Bread, some bread bakers include a coin (wrapped in foil) that indicates good luck for the person who finds it. Some put a china baby into the bread. Other customs include a bean, a clove, a twig, a piece of rag. Some traditions have the person who finds the embedded item doing the clean up, some have the person hosting the next party in February at Candlemas.

Bake at 375 for 25-35 minutes. The dough should be golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

The bread is delicious plain, but it’s also good with powdered sugar frosting or glaze. For Mardi Gras, traditionally you’d sprinkle the icing or glaze with sugar colored purple, green, and/or yellow.

Based on a recipe found in Beatrice Ojakangas’ The Great Holiday Baking Book

As you watch the yeast work its magic, think about all the times that Jesus likened the Kingdom of God to yeast. How is a Christian like yeast?

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And sometimes, we just need sweetness.  I know that usually many of us give up sugar for Lent, but if you haven't taken a vow of abstinence, maybe you should go a different direction:  more sweetness, not less.  God wants us to have sweetness in our lives.  Eat a cookie and think about God's bounty, as represented in a cookie! Take a moment to slow down. Take a bite of sweetness and savor it. Think about the other kinds of sweetness that you'd like to see manifest in your life.

 Here's an easy way to make a sugar cookie dough that you can roll into shapes and decorate:


Sugar Cookies
2 sticks butter
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
¼ C. milk
2tsp. baking powder
4 C. flour
2 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter, sugar, eggs. Add milk and dry ingredients. Roll out to ¼ inch thickness on a floured board and cut with cookie cutters. Sprinkle with colored sugar or leave plain to frost when cool (or to enjoy plain). Bake 10 minutes at 375. Easy frosting: moisten powdered sugar with enough milk to make spreadable and tint with food color.

Or maybe you need chocolate.  The recipe below couldn't be simpler:

Revisiting this recipe, I was surprised that it's relatively healthy for a cookie:  high in protein, high in whole grains because I made it with old-fashioned oats, not the quick cooking oats that would have been in the kitchen of my childhood.  The cocoa has anti-oxidant properties that chocolate chips probably don't.

It's easy, quick, and at the end, you've only got one dirty pot.  It satisfies my chocolate craving, and my spouse, who doesn't usually like the chocolate intense recipes that I do, likes it too.

So, in case your Sunday needs sweetness, here's the recipe:


Boiled Cookies

1 stick of butter
2 C. sugar
½ C. milk
4 T. cocoa

Bring the above to a boil and boil 1 ½ minutes. Remove from heat and add the following:

2 ½ C. quick cooking oats (old-fashioned works, but results in chewier cookie; steel cut will not work)
2 tsp. vanilla
½ C. peanut butter
½ C. chopped nuts (will work without this addition)

Beat until well-blended. Drop onto wax paper and let set.

Creative Lent: Play with Paper

Yesterday, we talked about plants and seeds as metaphor for God.  But I'm aware that plants and soil and seeds can be expensive, not to mention a bouquet or two of flowers.  But you could make flowers out of paper:

The beautiful thing about paper is it's cheap.  If your household/workplace is like mine, you likely throw away a ream once a month or so as waste paper.  But there's so much more you could do.

We think that a mosaic has to be made out of jewel like bits of glass:

Or we think of mosaics like these made out of stone:

But you could make a mosaic out of paper:

For more fun, cut up magazines and have the words mean something too:

While you're cutting up those magazines, think about making soul cards or prayer cards.  Where are you spiritually right now?  Or where would you like to be?

What do you need?

Or maybe you'd like a collage without words:

I like collage because someone else has already created the images.  But sometimes, I like to swirl the paint arount:

Paint is relatively cheap, but crayons are even cheaper.

Maybe you're not a visual person.  Maybe you'd like to write on all that lovely paper.  If that feels too dangerous, write and then cut:

Tomorrow:  more fun with assemblages of all sorts.

Creative Lent: Bloom Where You Are Planted

So, here we are, two days after Ash Wednesday.  Have you chosen your Lenten discipline yet?  It's not too late.  Today I offer you the first in a series of blog posts:  photo essays that I hope will provide inspirations, should you want to experiment with creativity and different art forms this Lenten season.

First, today, let's think about the idea of plants.  One of the metaphors we see time and time again is that of a seed.  Christians are like seeds, the Kingdom of God is like a seed, the Church can be a seed.  When's the last time you grew something in the earth?

You don't even need a patch of earth to call your own.  A container and some soil will do.  As you pour the potting soil into your container, let it run over your fingers.  Scrunch some together.  Remember the story of Adam and the breath of God.

You could create a terrarium, your own little ecosystem (see examples below).  You could watch over it, and think about how, like God, you've created a world:

Eventually, maybe you'll want to put some plants into the earth.

If you have a patch of land, perhaps creating a butterfly garden would bring you joy.

You could add some statues and create a different kind of sanctuary:

But maybe gardening isn't your thing.  You can still buy a bunch of flowers (or 2 or 3!) and have fun arranging them.  Marvel at the diversity of the beauty created by God and in your arrangement:

And if you can't afford fresh flowers, you can make some out of paper:

Tomorrow:  More fun things you can do with paper!

Planning for Our Lenten Disciplines

In two weeks, we will be at the day before Ash Wednesday, the day before Lent begins.  Many of us will take up a Lenten discipline, and we may need some time to plan.  In honor of that, I'm reprinting below the essay that I wrote for the Living Lutheran website last year.  Longtime readers of this blog will remember that I have also done multi-blog post series about the same theme.


Launch Into Lent

Have you decided what you will give up for Lent yet? In the past, a Lenten discipline meant giving something up, often something that we shouldn’t have been doing anyway. Those Lenten disciplines are still valid, especially if you tie the giving up to something spiritual (for example, you’ll give up sugar and contribute the money you would have spend on sweets to Lutheran World Relief). But what if instead of giving something up, we added something to enrich our spiritual lives? For those of you who are baffled, below are some suggestions to help you launch into Lent.



Increase Your Reading:

You might wail, “But what should I read?” Why not start with the Bible? Read a Gospel from beginning to end. Dip into some of the other New Testament books. Read a Psalm a day.

Lent is also a good time to add some devotional reading to your day. You’ve got a lot of possibilities. Choose a theological author, and chances are good that someone has taken part of their work and transformed it into a devotional resource. Augsburg Fortress has a wonderful 40 Day Journey With ___ series (Julian of Norwich, Madeleine L’Engle, and Kathleen Norris, among many others) which combines the writing of the author, some Scripture reading, some questions to ponder, and some writing prompts.

You might decide you want to continue this discipline beyond Lent. Luckily the Augsburg Fortress series has many books. For a more traditional series with reading alone, look for the A Year with ___ Series (Thomas Merton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and C.S. Lewis, among many others).


Boost Your Prayer Life:

If you’re not praying on a regular basis, now’s a good time to start. Begin your day with prayer, or end it with prayer or both. If you’re not sure what to say, start with thank you. Or, pray the Lord’s Prayer. If you want a bit more discipline, try praying for people who annoy you. Pray for countries that seem opposed to ours. Pray for peace. Ask God for what you need. Ask God to be with leaders. Ask God to be with those who need help: pray for the sick, pray for the newly wedded, pray for that homeless person you always see wandering around, pray for your boss, pray for your family, pray for the local schools.


Experiment with a Creative Practice:

You may not think of yourself as creative, but you likely were creative once. Try one or more of the following to reconnect with your artistic self:

--Buy a big box of crayons (or paints or pastels or any medium that makes you excited). Create a picture that addresses your spiritual life.

--Go to the store and buy 3 bouquets of flowers. Rearrange them into two bouquets and put them where you'll see them and be reminded of God's flowering love for you. Take this process one step further: plant a flower pot or a garden.

--The image of God as a potter recurs in the Bible. Buy some clay and play with it. If you are the clay, how is God shaping you? Make that shape.

--Learn to bake bread. Bread dough is amazingly forgiving, and will endure countless experiments.

--Start a spiritual journal. Each day, write down 5 things you’re grateful for. Or write down people you need to remember to pray for. Or write a short meditation on a Bible verse or a song. Make a list of where you see God at work in the world. Write out your prayers.


Step Up Your Charitable Efforts:

Hopefully, you’re already making some attempt to be part of God’s vision for social justice, either by contributing time, money, or materials. You might consider a few of the following suggestions:

--Make an extra contribution to your favorite charity. Maybe you could make one extra contribution per week. It doesn’t have to be huge. But it could be.

--Clean out your closets. Give away anything you haven’t worn in the past year. Clean out your kitchen cupboards.

--When you go to the grocery store, buy some extra food for your favorite charity.

--See if you can’t increase your tithe by 5 or 10 percent above what you’re doing now.

--Give some extra time during Lent. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or a food pantry. Go to a nursing home and sing some old Gospel songs. Think about the people you know who have lives that are falling apart; go buy cards and put them in the mail.


Try a Spiritual Practice that You’ve Never Tried Before:

Don’t feel compelled to go too far outside of your comfort zone. But even within your comfort zone, you’ll probably notice many practices that you might have wanted to try or that you once tried and let fall away:

--Pray the Rosary (or any set of beads): If you’re not sure of how to do this, just offer up a different prayer as you touch each bead. Perhaps for each bead, you’d like to remember a specific person. Perhaps for each bead you’d like to offer up thanks for one thing for which you’re grateful. If you’re not good at creating prayers, simply pray the Lord’s prayer. If you want to really return to your Catholic roots, go here.

--Find a labyrinth and walk it. Many churches and retreat centers have installed labyrinths. To find one near you, go here. What do you do once you’re there? Simply walk. Follow the path in and follow it back out again—you can’t go wrong. Some people pray or recite a Bible verse as they walk.

--Go to a weekly concert. Many churches offer a weekly concert during Lent, often at lunchtime. Call some of the churches around your workplace to see if they’re offering anything. Leave the office, sit in a worship site, and enjoy some different music.

--Many churches offer an extra service during the week or Bible study. Resolve to add one opportunity to your weekly schedule.

 
I haven't decided on my Lenten discipline, and there are plenty of other possibilities out there.  Perhaps this will be the year that I decide not to take on any additional disciplines; the thought of taking on more exhausts me.  Perhaps I will find my Lenten discipline in paring down my commitments.  Many of the above suggestions are easy for me.  Saying "no" is much more difficult.

Launch Into Lent: Play with Creative Practices to Enrich Your Spiritual Life

Many of us grew up in churches surrounded by stained glass windows beaming down as the choir sang, but with very little else to speak to our creative impulses. Perhaps we were lucky enough to go to churches that had banners made by the women's group (and sadly, perhaps those banners were created by women long since dead). Maybe we decorated the tree with Chrismons each year. Maybe we went to church in the 1970's, when people experimented with liturgical dance and chancel dramas. But I suspect that our churches of our childhood, and probably our churches now, don't really speak to our creative sides.


And that's a shame. While some of us will find our way to a deeper relationship with God through our rational brains, many of us will be lost along the way, whereas a creative path may help more of us to God. Even if you think of yourself as non-creative, there are creative practices that may speak to your heart. Even if you're deeply committed to intellectual pursuits, there are creative processes that can help you access your intellect.


I offer here a variety of practices, in the hopes that one or two will attract you. You can adopt a creative discipline for all of Lent or you can try a different one each week.


--Yesterday, I talked about prayer beads, but what if you don't have a rosary? Go to a bead shop or a craft store and buy some beads. If you haven't looked at the bead section of your craft or fabric shop, you'll be amazed at how many beads are out there. You can string them together (dental floss makes a strong thread) in a way that pleases you or go here for more traditional ways to make a rosary and to see rosaries that others have made.


--If you're someone who values your intellect above your creative impulses, a spiritual journal might be for you. What to write about? Write a daily or a weekly meditation on a Bible verse. Write about where you see God at work in the world. Write about other material that you're reading. Write a letter to God. Write a letter that you imagine God might write back to you. For more ideas about what to explore in your spiritual journal and for more resources, see this post that I wrote last year.

--Our Faith Writing group at my church will be sending out a prompt each week with a Bible passage and questions to ponder; I'll post the prompt here each Friday and you could work along. Your spiritual journal doesn't have to be comprised of words. You can take photographs. You can respond to the world in paint, crayon, pastel, charcoal or pencil. You could experiment with movement.


--If you're musically inclined, most churches are doing something special this time of year. Join them. If you're not inclined to be musical in groups, sing by yourself; stairwells usually have a beautiful acoustic quality. If you played an instrument as a child, now might be the time to return to it. If you've always wanted to learn an instrument, why not now? A recorder or an Irish whistle is easy enough to teach yourself, and cheap, if you want to experiment with sound.

--A recurring image in the Bible is that of bread; this Lent might be a good time to experiment with bread baking. Bread is a remarkably forgiving food, so it's great for those new to baking or cooking. As you watch the yeast bubble, think about how your spiritual life is like that yeast or ponder how faith is like yeast. As you knead the bread dough, think about how God shapes us, like bread dough.

--Another symbol of God that we see throughout the Bible is that of God as potter. If you don't have time to make bread, get a clump of clay or make some play-dough (go here for recipes). As you work the clay, think about how God is a potter and humans are the clay. If you are the clay and God is shaping you, what is that shape? Make the shape.

--Resolve to explore the foods of different cultures. Even if you don't want to cook them, you can go to different restaurants or explore the ethnic section of your grocery store. As you explore the foods of a different culture, learn about the ways that culture expresses its Christianity. Learn about the other religions of the culture and how the religions interact and inform each other.

--Gather together a bunch of old magazines and explore the art of collage. As you sort through the magazines and rip out images, you might have a Bible passage in mind. Or maybe you have a spiritual question. Or maybe you just want to rip out images that appeal to you or speak to your dreams of the future. Once you have a pile of images, select some, trim them, and paste them onto another sheet of paper or cardstock. On the back, write down what prompted the image. Keep the collages so that years from now, you have their insights.

--Buy several bunches of flowers and combine them into one bouquet. As you create the new bouquet, think about how God's love brings your life into full flower.

--In a similar vein, you might plant a garden, either in the ground or in pots. As you get your hands dirty, think about the ways that your faith roots you.

--Buy a piece of silk or flittery fabric. Paint on the silk. Think about God as Creator, your life as the silk.

--Take your painted piece of silk or a scarf and hold it as you move through your space. Move your hands and watch the silk flutter. Think about the Holy Spirit as wind. Think about John 3:8, which describes the Holy Spirit as wind blowing, and we cannot tell where it comes from or where it's going. John tells us that Spirit-filled people are similar. Watch the scarf and think about the Spirit.

--Make wind chimes out of any items you have in your house that sound pleasant when they clink together. Hang your wind chimes outside and think of the Holy Spirit each time you hear them move.

--If you're technologically savvy, explore the ways your computer lets you be creative. Make a Power Point presentation that talks about your faith journey or your spiritual history. Most of us have software on our computers that allow us to make even more sophisticated videos, and most of us can learn them in just a few hours. Take your photos and learn to use iMovie or MovieMaker. Add your voice reading a Bible passage or a poem. Add some music--but before you upload your video to a public place, make sure you're not using copyright protected music.

--Don't forget the traditional liturgical arts. Even if you can't make stained glass, you could do something similar with tissue paper and black construction paper. Create an ornament that will remind you of your faith and hang it over your desk or dresser. Make a banner out of paper or fabric. Needlepoint or embroider a prayer cushion or a kneeler. Write a chancel drama. Go even deeper into your church history and explore the world of icons. Make or paint an icon. Take a familiar hymn and write your own lyrics. Make a lap quilt or a prayer shawl. Put together a pot luck supper.

There are so many possibilities out there, and there are more books on Creativity and Spirituality than I can count. There are also conferences and retreats. If you find yourself longing for a retreat that helps you think about faith and creativity, why not join me at Lutheridge the week-end after Easter? Go here for more information about the Create in Me retreat, a remarkably affordable retreat (the price includes food, lodging, and supplies).

Launch Into Lent: Extend Hospitality and Enlarge Your Welcome Table

For many of us, it's easier to give up sugar than to do what I'm about to suggest. For the period of Lent, extend hospitality to people. What I'm really suggesting is that we look for more ways to share a meal together.

I know all the reasons why we don't share meals much anymore. Our schedules are hectic, and it's hard to find time when we're all free. If we invite people to our houses, we need to find time to clean them before people come over. We worry about what we'll talk about. We're tired, and we just want to be left alone.

But Jesus came to show us that we're not meant to be alone. Jesus' ministry was essentially a table ministry. He invited people to share a meal, and in doing this, he won their souls.

Imagine sharing a meal with Jesus. What would you talk about? I imagine that many of the conversations would be seen as mundane and meaningless to us. But what a treat, to share the particulars of our days with our Savior.

A similar dynamic happens when we eat together. We're so starved for attention, even as we purchase our food from drive throughs and eat in our cars that have been remodeled (with cupholders and platforms to place our fast food bags) to serve our desires to eat while travelling.

The human body was not meant to function this way: always on the go, always trying to do 3 or 4 tasks at the same time. We are people starved for nourishment, starved for rest, starved for appreciation. Sharing a meal together won't satisfy all those needs, but it's a start.

Here are some ideas about a variety of ways that you can emulate Jesus this Lent:

--Invite someone over to dinner. Warn them that your house is dusty, and then, all you really need to do is to make sure the toilet is clean, a 5 minute task. Give up the belief that your house must be picture perfect before you invited people over. If people snoop and see the ring around your bathtub, who cares?

And what to serve? Even if you have no time to cook, a spaghetti dinner is easy enough, if you use a jar of sauce; add some bread from the supermarket bakery, a bag of meatballs from the freezer case, and a bag of salad from the produce section, and you've got a cheap, easy meal, one suitable for vegetarians and carnivores alike. Or pick up some chicken (fried or rotissery) from the deli to go with your bakery bread and bag of salad. While you're in the bakery, buy some brownies for dessert.

--If you don't want to have people over, invite people to go to a restaurant with you.

--Organize a pot luck dinner or lunch at work. Promise each other that you won't talk shop.
If you don't work outside your houose, organize a pot luck dinner or lunch at the place where you spend the most time.

--Go to a retirement center and eat with the residents. Ask them questions about what life was like when they were your age.

--Look for other places where lonely people might welcome your company: soup kitchens, immigrant centers, churches, hospitals.

Here are some other ways to extend hospitality, ways that don't involve the actual sharing of a meal:

--write letters to your loved ones who are far away and can't come to dinner.

--give food to a soup kitchen or a food pantry.

--visit the sick in the hospitals and rehab centers. If you're fortunate enough not to have sick friends or family members, ask your church if they need your help in visiting the sick.

--You could extend this practice to visiting the members of your various communities who are stuck in their homes. If you know their dietary preferences, bring a treat. If not, bring a bouquet of flowers.

--help with coffee hour at church.

--Organize some sort of program at a place that has lonely people. Read poems to residents of a nursing home. Teach your hobby to a Girl Scout or Boy Scout troop. Take an art project to a prison.

--Don't forget our troops, many of whom are serving far away from home. You can send care packages. You can give money for phone cards. You can support the USO, which does so much for troops and their families. If you've got a favorite group, by all means support it. If you don't, be careful, as we've seen lots of scams in this area lately.

--make sure that you're the person who says hi and makes the effort with the new people. I went to a Lutheran church once; I was early and put on the visitor sticker that the usher handed me. I was obviously a visitor, so I waited for the church members to welcome me. Not one soul spoke to me. Intrigued, I decided to linger after the service, even though I wanted to flee. Again, no one spoke to me--I was wearing a visitor sticker, for pity's sake!!! I never went back.

You encounter new people all the time: at church, at school, at work, at meetings. Say hi. Make conversation. Sure it's uncomfortable. Do it anyway. You'll get better at it, and soon it won't be so uncomfortable.

Launch Into Lent: Read More

When I first heard people talk about adding something to their Lenten lives (instead of giving up something, like chocolate or sugar), one of the things that people talked about adding was additional devotion time. Now, you may have a different view of devotion time (maybe a yoga class?), but for me, when you say devotion time, I think about reading.

I can already see the eyes rolling at my suggestion that we read more. Maybe you're thinking about that book that you started during your last vacation but didn't finish, and now you can't remember the plot, and you feel like you should finish the book, but to do that you'd really need to start over again, and in the meantime, there are all these other books you'd rather read.

Oh, wait, that's my reading life. And that's my approach to things, an all or nothing, I'm going to read 200 extra pages every day!, I'll read my way through the whole Bible this Lent! kind of approach.

It's the kind of approach that sets us up for failure. Let's be kinder to ourselves.

Let's think about some ways that additional reading can be a nourishing Lenten discipline without being an overwhelming burden.

Increase your Bible reading:

--Choose one Gospel and read your way through it this Lent. We're in Lectionary Year A, which means the Gospels are primarily from Matthew. You might want to read Matthew through or you might want to choose another Gospel, so you can be on the lookout for how they're similar and how they're different.

--Read one Psalm a day. That shouldn't be too hard. Some of them are as short as 6 verses.

--Open the Bible at random and read a page or two.

--Don't forget that there are many sites that will give you Bible readings as MP3s that you can take with you (listen in the car; listen on your iPod) and there are sites that will send you a Bible verse a day, and there are sites that will send you pinging reminders )on your mobile device or computer) to read a verse or two. Harness the technology that so often rules our days and use that technology to enrich your life.

Read the Works of Spiritual Masters

--Most of us have a theologian or two that we've been meaning to read. Lent is a great time to make time for that.

--If you're convinced that you don't have time for a complete work, there are books that are set up as a daily devotional resource with a short passage from the work of an author. Look for titles like A Year With ____________.

--Augsburg Fortress has a great series, the 40-Day series. There are 11 books, each featuring a different author. You get a Bible reading, some passages from the author, a prayer, and some questions for you to think or journal about. Go here for the complete list. I've used the Madeleine L'Engle and the Kathleen Norris book and enjoyed them thoroughly; our high school youth group is working their way through L'Engle, which convinces me of the wide appeal of these books.

--Let me put in a vote for my favorite Lenten devotional resource: Henri Nouwen's Show Me the Way. It will not surprise me if future generations view Henri Nouwen as one of the most important theologians of the last half of the 20th century, and I'm so happy to find out that this book is still in print.

Read a Poem Each Day

I am not one of those people who takes the Bible literally. I'm a poet and an English Ph.D; I see the Bible not as a history book, but as a lyrical text that gives us very important information in an often non-rational, non-linear way.

And as a poet, I'm biased, but I would go ahead and argue that reading poetry trains our brain in a way that no other discipline can, and our trained brains will be better able to appreciate the Bible.

And just to demonstrate, so you won't be cast adrift on your own, during each week of Lent, on Tuesdays, I will present one of my poems, complete with explanation, and with thoughts about how understanding my poem can enrich your understanding of the Bible. At the end of the post, I'll recommend other poets and poems so that you can continue your study of poetry throughout the week.

Yes, Poetry Tuesday--I like the sound of that!

Launch Into Lent: Giving Up, Giving Away

Before I move into my posts about adding as a Lenten discipline, let's think about some other ways we could fast. In her comment on yesterday's post, Di said that she's giving up make-up; it will be interesting to see the ways that going bare-faced into the world may change her interactions.

What else could we give up beyond food and drink? Or maybe we don't give up these things completely, but we limit them. Here's a short list:

--Gossip

--Facebook and other online areas that take us away from local family and friends

--speeding (both in the car and in other areas of our life)

--texting

--worry

--local news, which often focuses on the scariest story

--self-help books and magazines--what would happen if we decided that if God can love us the way we are, maybe we should learn to do that too?

--self-loathing (see above)

--anger

--fear

--working extra hours (if we can give this practice up without losing our jobs)

You see the pattern here; we should give up practices and mind sets that are harmful and take us away from God.

Many of us think of Lenten disciplines as involving some kind of sacrifice, so before we shift to adding items into our lives, let us think in terms of giving away. In past years, I've used the term "cultivating generosity," which I prefer to words like "tithing," words which scare us.

So, what could we give away? How can we cultivate a spirit of generosity?

--Money is the obvious choice. Are you tithing? Probably not. Most of us can't even give 10% to our savings accounts, so I expect that we're not giving 10% to God. So let's start on a smaller scale. Could you give away 1%? If you're already giving, could you increase your amount just a smidge?

--Other ways to give away money: become a bigger tipper. Give money to that homeless guy on the corner. Buy stuff from the kids who are fundraising.

But maybe you face severe economic contractions in your household, and you're barely holding the household together financially. What else could we give away?

--Old clothes. If you're like me, you have several wardrobes in several sizes. If you're like me, you're holding onto old clothes, hoping to be able to fit into them some day. In the meantime, there are people who could be wearing those clothes now. Clean out those closets. You probably only wear 7-15 outfits each week anyway. Forgive yourself for the clothes and shoes that you bought thinking they would be perfect, but they weren't. Forgive yourself for the weight you've gained or lost. Keep the clothes you love and give the rest away.

--All the extra stuff in your kitchen. Many of us, especially if we've been on our own any amount of time at all, have accumulated extra stuff for the kitchen that we don't use: the odd size pan that came in the set, the extra set(s) of dishes, the gadget(s) that you no longer use, the machines that gather dust and take up shelf space. Get rid of that junk.

--You probably have other areas of your living space that accumulate stuff, stuff you no longer remember you have: the tool shed, the linen closet, the study, the book shelves, the toy chests, the closets that hold who knows what.

You could have a yard sale and give the proceeds to your church or your favorite charity or social justice group. You could give the stuff to any number of worthy groups who run thrift stores or who redistribute your stuff to people who are down on their luck.

But maybe you're saying, "Hey, we've already liquidated our stuff. We're out of work. We cannot do these things."

Another thing we could give away is our time. Many of us who have held onto our jobs are working more hours than ever before, so I know how hard this can be. Still, there are groups that need us.

How could we give away time? We could:

--work in a food bank.

--clean up roads or parks.

--work with an illiterate person.

--work with immigrants.

--go to a nursing home or retirement center and sing or read poems or play games.

--write letters to our legislators.

--write letters to our elders who don't communicate other ways.

This list could be endless, and you probably already have favorite ways to volunteer. Do more of that activity during Lent.

In the days to come, we'll explore more things you can add to your life to enrich your experience of Lent and bring you closer to God.

Launch Into Lent: Give Something Up by Fasting

In my Tuesday post, I talked about the idea of Lenten disciplines, that some of us will choose to give something up, and some of us may choose to add something. We should be striving toward spiritual enrichment.

Most of my Launch Into Lent series will focus on adding. But I know that many people are committed to the idea of giving something up, so I want this first post in the series to think about fasting.

The ancient way to do this was simply to choose a day of the week to give up food. But here are some different ways to fast. And if you go with one of these, know in advance to expect some discomfort (and maybe some irritability). Resolve to use these pangs of discomfort as a reminder. Maybe each time you feel your stomach growl, you could pray for those who have no food, who have to endure these feelings all the time. Maybe you could pray for assistance in your effort to be disciplined. Maybe you could pray a prayer of thanks for Jesus and others (like your parents?) who have endured substantial discomfort so that you could have a better life.

Here are some ways to fast:

--Once a week, you could eat like a third world resident. What does that mean exactly? Maybe you eat rice and not much more. Maybe you eat a bowl of beans and not much more. As you eat (and don’t eat), think about people in the world who always eat this way, who face a life that has no end to bowl after bowl of rice. Pray for them.

--Or choose a day of the week and eat nothing but fruit. Or nothing but fruit and vegetables. Or drink nothing but fruit and/or vegetable juices.

--You could fast by giving up restaurant meals. Give the money that you save to a world hunger relief operation.

--Similarly, you could give up buying overpriced drinks in coffee shops. Brew your own at home.

--You could fast by giving up second servings. Eat what’s on your plate and be satisfied with that.

--You could abstain from meat, either just red meat or all flesh foods. You could do this just one day a week (the Christian tradition would be Friday) or throughout the Lenten season.

--Giving up sugar is a time-honored Lenten discipline.

--Give up soda, both the sugary kind and the artificial sweetener kind.

--Give up on bottled water. If you need a bottle of water, fill up a water bottle from your tap. Most of us live in places that have a safe water supply. Most of the bottled water comes from a tap someplace else. These bottles are clogging up the planet, and it’s a superfluous need. Give the money you save to a world relief organization that’s dedicated to bringing a safe water supply to 3rd world nations that don’t have the safe drinking water that we do in the U.S.

--Try a news fast. That’s right, give up on keeping up with the news. The human brain was not designed to handle misery on a global scale; in fact, many people wonder if the reason why so many of us are being treated for mood disorders has to do with our increased awareness of bad news from every part of the planet. Don’t worry—if anything really important happens, someone will let you know. If you can’t handle a total news fast, give up on televised news, especially the local news, which is relentlessly grim and designed to scare us half to death. Get your news without many pictures, the old fashioned print way.

--If you’re really brave, declare a modern media fast. No music created in the twentieth century (maybe you’ll allow yourself to listen to recordings of music, as long as it’s older music, or maybe you’ll go without). No noodling on the Internet. No T.V. Amuse yourself in old-fashioned ways, like having conversations, playing games, and reading.

Fasting gives us an opportunity to focus our attention. And if we're fasting for spiritual reasons, we've freed up some time and energy to focus on God.

The Idea of Lenten Disciplines

The idea of discipline has nasty associations in our culture: think of Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish, to cite one famous cultural study. To discipline a child often means a spanking or a time out. Discipline sounds so harsh, so much like breaking of our wills--which it is, but in a positive way, ideally. Christians traditionally have approached Lent as a time to impose some order and discipline on the spiral of chaos that many of our lives have become.

In the past, a Lenten discipline meant giving something up, often something that we shouldn’t have been doing anyway. Those disciplines are still valid. Yet when I have conversations with people who are giving up something for Lent, they often go something like this:

"I'm giving up chocolate for Lent!"

Me: "Great. Why?"

"Because I've always given up chocolate for Lent."

Me: "Really? Why?"

"It's what we're supposed to do, right?"

Me: "How do you expect this giving up of chocolate to enrich you spiritually?"

If the conversation has actually lasted until this point, it usually dissolves into mutual bafflement.

Don't get me wrong: it's great to give up something for Lent, if you want to. But it would be even better if you used that giving up as a pathway or a springboard to spiritual growth.

For example, you could give up chocolate, and every time you crave chocolate, you could think of all the people in the world who could be kept alive with those extra calories. You could pray for those people who need the extra calories that you usually mindlessly consume. You could research how chocolate is made, and that research will probably lead you to the decision to buy Fair Trade chocolate (Lutheran World Relief offers excellent choices here). You could give the money that you would have spent on chocolate to an organization that works to wipe out hunger.

In recent years, many people have argued that instead of giving something up, we should add something (like an extra devotional time, for example). For those of you who are baffled, be sure to tune in on Thursday, and each day leading up to Ash Wednesday, for my Launch Into Lent series.