Tag: lent
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Something Better Than “Giving Something Up” For Lent?
Ash Wednesday kicks off Lent — the 40-day period leading up to Easter (excluding Sundays). During that time, a lot of people “give something up.” Originally this had more to do with fasting, but now many take a broader approach. Here are some of the most popular casualties: Chocolate Alcohol Certain foods (especially junk food or…
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Three Of The Biggest Misunderstandings About Jesus
Albert Schweitzer famously said that when looking for the “real” Jesus, it can be like looking down a well: Our search can be so polluted with personal motives that instead of finding Jesus, we find our own reflection staring back at us. Jesus is, in a way, the perpetual Stranger. As Schweitzer wrote, “He comes to us as…
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Be Our Primary Disease (A Prayer For Us—with apologies to Walter Brueggemann)
Stuff gets into us. A germ here, a seed of spiritual sickness there. You think you’re opening the door for a special gift delivery and a rat scurries in under your feet. A bad habit, a temptation continually fed and growing… You know the one. Part of Lent’s purpose is to purge ourselves of unwelcome…
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The Opposite of Love Isn’t Hate—It’s Indifference (Lent Begins)
You’re still here. On earth. What difference will your life make? Elie Wiesel wrote something that changed me. He is a Holocaust survivor who saw things no one should ever have to see. Years after the War he published a 100-page book called Night in which he recounted his experience. He captured in words what no…
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Huh? Pancakes, Ashes, 40 Days, Rebirth
Why do people eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday? Why do people put ashes on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday? What is Lent and why do people “give something up” for it? Every year these things starting happening and I often get a bunch of questions about their meaning and history. So I thought I’d blog…
