My joke about giving up Profile pics on Facebook aside, I will be observing Lent this year. I am by no means Catholic, nor do I know that I can call my Christian in the traditional sense, but as someone said at New Years, "Any day is a good day to make a change." So I will (at least through Maundy Thursday be attempting to make a few in my life.
I'll try to keep you posted on how things are going, though I don't intend to share what I am giving up.
Here is a brief description of Lent from Wikipedia if you are not familiar:
Lent (Latin: Quadragesima, "fortieth"[1]) is the Christian observance of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.
The traditional purpose of Lent is the penitential preparation of the believer—through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, and self-deni.al. Its institutional purpose is heightened in the annual commemoration of Holy Week, marking the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events of the Passion of Christ on Good Friday, which then culminates in the celebration on Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
During Lent, many of the faithful commit to fasting or giving up certain types of luxury as a form of penitence. The Stations of the Cross, a devotional commemoration of Christ's carrying the Cross and of His execution, are often observed. Many Roman Catholic and some Protestant churches bare their altars of candles, flowers, and other devotional offerings, while Crucifixes, religious statues, and other elaborate religious paraphernalia are often veiled in violet fabrics in observance of this event. In certain pious Catholic countries, grand processions and cultural customs are observed, and the faithful attempt to visit seven churches during Holy Week in honor of Jesus Christ heading to Mount Calvary.
According to the Synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert before the beginning of His public ministry, where He endured temptation by Satan.[2][3] Thus, Lent is described as being forty days long, though different denominations calculate the forty days differently. In many of the Christian churches, Lent is regarded as being forty days long, but the Sundays between Shrove Tuesday and Easter Sunday are not typically regarded as being part of Lent; thus, the date of Shrove Tuesday will typically be slightly more than forty days before Easter Sunday.
This event, along with its pious customs are observed by Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Anglicans and some Baptists.[4][4][5][5] Lent is increasingly being
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