Friday, February 13, 2004
Searching for Lenten ideas
Not liturgy ideas today, but spiritual ones. Ideally, it would be like my Lent of 1986, when I spent the first ten days of it at Madonna House in Combermere, Ontario. It is much more difficult for a liturgist with a family to withdraw from the world at this time of year.
I've been trying to take my first ten to fifteen minutes at work each day in prayer: before we open for calls, my colleagues arrive, etc.. That works on the days we don't have snow, my daughter or wife isn't sick or needs to be run to the doctor. Not that my family is sickly -- far from it, but it seems like a two-to-four-day-a-week attempt isn't covering the bases. Something truly Lentish needs to be a daily effort.
Giving up things has been fruitful on the surface. On occasion, a good habit has stuck with me after Easter. But taking a break from the internet, games, tv, or other peripheral things, even if temporary, has added to the spiritual experience.
But ... I'm looking for something different this year. Any ideas?
