Lenten discipline

I have been Anglican for ten years and tried to ‘give something up for Lent’ for my first nine Lents. The first year, I tried not to eat meat, and although I sometimes failed to keep the discipline, after that first Lent I decided that I could live without meat. I have been vegetarian for almost ten years.

In later years, my Lenten discipline largely continued to be a diet plan in disguise. I have given up alcohol and dessert and tried to adopt a vegan diet. None of these practices has continued past Lent (sometimes they didn’t even last all of Lent). In using Lenten discipline as diet or self-improvement, I have lost sight of its spiritual focus. Lenten discipline has been described as a way of making more room for God. That won’t happen if I spend all day thinking about the chocolate or cheesecake that I’m not eating.

This Lent I’m trying to be more deliberate about making room for God. In addition to mass on Sunday and the daily offices, I’m going to try to attend weekday mass at least once a week. I’m also going to try resuming the eucharistic fast—not eating anything before the first mass of the day. The point of this is not to eat less, but to appreciate the sacrament as the first great joy of the day. Likewise, when I go to morning prayer or if I try to get to an early morning mass, I ought not to be grumbling about waking up early, but seeing prayer as the right way to start the day.

I will try to consume less alcohol, fat, sugar and so on, because there’s no harm in reducing my consumption, and Lent is no time for gluttony. But I won’t beat myself up for the occasional drink.