Lent – the history behind it and what I am doing for it this year

When is Lent?

Lent is the period of 40 days which comes before easter in the Christian calendar. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, Lent is a season of reflection and preparation before the celebrations of Easter. By observing the 40 days of Lent, Christians replicate Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert for 40 days.

What is Lent and traditionally what is done to celebrate it?

Lent is marked by fasting, both from food and festivities. Whereas Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus after his death on the cross, Lent recalls the events leading up to and including Jesus’ crucifixion by Rome. This is believed to have taken place in Roman occupied Jerusalem.

The Christian churches that observe Lent in the 21st century (and not all do significantly) use it as a time for prayer and penance. Only a small number of people today fast for the whole of Lent, although some maintain the practice on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. It is more common these days for believers to surrender a particular luxury such as favourite foods or smoking.

Whatever the sacrifice, it is a reflection of Jesus’ deprivation in the wilderness and a test of self-discipline. As I said above, many people give up certain foods a popular one being fast foods or chocolate. But this year I decided to do something different.

What Lent means to me

To me Lent is about not giving into temptation and many different things can be tempting for individual people. Therefore for me this year I’ve decided to try to not give into procrastination. So much of the time I find myself saying I can do that later or I can do it tomorrow I’m procrastinating that thing until the last possible moment. However this year for lent I’ve decided to not give into that and try and set myself a strict routine every day and stick to it to see how it can change my day-to-day life.

It is easy to think of Lent as a Christian holiday and if you’re not a Christian you can think it has nothing to do with you which to an extent is right however it is a time to try something new like I’m doing try waking up at the same time every day try to go to the gym once a week try a new hobby a new society just something to get you out of your regular routine because it is so tempting to just stick with the way you’ve been living and what’s the harm in trying something new. I highly encourage you to try this. It is six weeks of tweaking and changing something small and who knows it could be the best decision you made. So? Are you going to give it a go?