Lenten fasting .. possibilities and opportunities and twists

i admit it

i wondered if i was being reprobative, as in denying the faith

right there in the sanctuary

in the very midst of a sober-minded fellowship surrounding Lent

Lent is the traditional christian period of the 40 days leading up to Easter ..

back home, where there is a strong Anglican and Roman Catholic influence

it involved denial, blackness, remorse, solemnity ..

a truly sombre time

i never thought i'd end-up in a church where the preacher wore robes and Lent was on the calendar ..

diss'ed that in the turning from established church to evangelicalism

now i'm back there, but not, kinda

'cause it's different

so whereas Lent became a reference or sermon in my youth/evangelical churches

it's now back on the agenda for me

a time of reflection, introspective, deliberative, look-at-myselfive

( i confess - most of my christian life has been in the Lenten mode, at least privately .. i am wont to be introspective and penitential .. a closet beat-up-on-my-self kindalike )

so there i was

sitting in the sanctuary listening to this wiseman reflect on it in his usual come-at-it-from-a-different-angle way

which usually engages me

and while he was talking about fasting
giving up something important

quoting the honourable Francis in the vein that if it doesn't hurt it's not much of a fast ..

i got that

and then this fleeting (?) thought ..

smack dab in the midst of what-to-give-up-for-Lent ..

i wonder ..

is there any room in there for taking-on something for Lent

as in turning the coin over ..

rather than giving-up something, focusing on involving my self more in something with my God and his Kingdom in mind ..

i never heard of it

never thought of it before in a fasting context

so it sat in the back of my mind, gestating

and then i ran across this ..

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bishop-stacy-sauls/ash-wednesday_b_4905883.html?utm_hp_ref=religion