Virtual Diet - Lent

Why fast during Lent?  This article kind of sums up the history of the tradition (and this article, geared towards youth, has some creative ways to fast). 

Fasting can take on different forms, and I'm no authority on how or why someone should or shouldn't practice certain fasting during Lent (the season before Easter).  My heart and my roots are Catholic, and to my knowledge, the Lenten Fast tradition is mostly a Catholic thing.  But even at the nondenominational church my husband and I have been attending (where they have made no mention of Lent whatsoever, to my extreme disappointment, but I shouldn't have hoped for it...) the head guy has talked about how "discipline" is crucial for discipleship.  So a common thread at least.  

For me, there's not exactly a surplus of spiritual self discipline in my life currently, so hopefully no one would criticize me for taking Lent as an opportunity for some discernment and self examination.  Catholic or not.

When I was younger, I would give up things like chocolate, caffeine   In my most spiritual years I seriously amped up my prayer life and made frequent (sometimes daily) visits to my local Adoration chapel.  Talk about feeling close to God.  A few years ago I gave up texting and Facebook -- completely -- for the whole Lent.  This, I found was very effective in re-examining relationships, priorities and how I spent my time... a worthwhile spiritual task indeed.   This year I have been feeling called to examine who and what I am giving my time to.  I wouldn't dare deprive my friends and family their daily photographs of my adorable daughter (especially on Instagram) so I couldn't give up social media completely, but I can back off.  Truthfully... most of my virtual time is spent in the blog realm -- composing, reading others', networking, drafting... you get it.  So, maybe you noticed, maybe you didn't, but I'm taking a little bit of a blogging break.

Not a complete blogging fast, but backing off during this Lent -- I'm considering it a bit of a Lenten blogging "diet".  I'm purposefully being more present in my prayer life, my family life, my marriage, my home, my motherhood, and a little less present in my blog life.

You can expect maybe one post per week, but not much more.

And Christians, even though Lent started almost two weeks ago, it's not too late to take this opportunity to do something, dedicatedly, to spiritually prepare yourself for Easter.

God Bless!