Lent is around the corner.  Many will be wondering what they "should give up."  Often that's what we have been taught, and that's often what we do.  In looking back at previous Lents, I realize that most of my Lenten disciplines have been about me.  I am the focus of attention - full of self-congratulations at the end of 40 days of self-denial.  Why we do what we do is the one of most important questions we can ever ask ourselves if we want to live authentic lives.  This year I have decided to introduce new practices into my life - more silence, more prayer, more activities that are generative and creative (paints and colored pencils on my dining room table), more rest.  Given all that needs to be "done" at St. Paul's during this time of transition, this may seem counter-intuitive.  Unproductive, even!  From a human perspective, it may be.  But our Lenten disciplines are not about ourselves.  They are about God.  They are about doing what is pleasing to God - doing whatever brings us closer to God.  May your Lenten discipline, whatever it is, be designed to deepen your relationship with the One who named the Sabbath "holy."  Because, without a deep sense of connection with this One, the One who leads us, and guides us - the One in whom we live and move and have our being, all our "doings" will emanate from our human agendas, our human anxieties - and come to naught!
 

[I recommend the following article by The Rev. Canon Charles LaFond (from Saint John's Cathedral, Denver) whose convicting words on Sabbath and rest helped shape my Lenten disciplines this year. Read the article HERE.]