Over the years, my approach to blogging at Lent has remained pretty consistent: I keep doing it.
I have observed many others who either lighten their blogging load or give it up altogether. Some folks restrain themselves from their stats or turn off comments.
I’ve always just sort of kept going with it.
It’s worth exploring, especially in this space, how our writing endeavors (and thus our blogging endeavors) are affected by this important liturgical season.
Do you stop your blogging or lighten it up or something else? What’s the right answer?
That’s for you to decide.
As with so many other things, penance and our approach to Lent is highly personal. Some of us share it publicly, as a way of keeping ourselves accountable. I find that I’m helped, so often, by catching glimpses of what helps others in their spiritual walks.
Other people prefer to keep quiet and private about their Lenten approach. I have been doing that lately, in part because I have plenty of other things to write about and in part because I’ve discerned that, right now, that’s what’s right for me.
Some years, I’ll kick off a special series during Lent. This year, I’m starting a series of posts considering the Hail Mary word by word. The series will extend well beyond Lent, into the dog days of summer, but I’m looking forward to how it will surely help me during my Lent–and beyond–this year.
How about you? What are your blogging plans this year for Lent? If you care to share, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
image credit: Marc Cardonella
Sarah Reinhard
When Sarah Reinhard's not writing online at SnoringScholar.com, she can be found on Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, Facebook, or Google +. She's the author of a number of books, including her latest title, Catholic Family Fun: A Guide for the Adventurous, Overwhelmed, Creative, or Clueless.
I am working through the booklet called A Lenten Journey for Men. It’s from a program called That Man is You. The program is available at many parishes in North America.
Each day of Lent we will do four different practices:
1. We will begin each day with a very brief consecration to God.
2. We will have an exercise that we perform each day.
3. We will have a sacrifice that we make each day.
4. We will end the day with a brief examination of conscious.
There are three exercises that help men evaluate their spiritual lives based on the three fundamental orientations in the spiritual life (orientation to God, to others, and to self):
(a) Evaluation of Time – provides the best indication of a person’s orientation towards self since once we spend our time we never get it back
(b) Evaluation of Finances – provides the best indication of the orientation toward others since each time we spend or make a dollar we interact with the world
(c) Evaluation of Prayer – evaluation of the quantity and quality of prayer provides the best indication of the orientation toward God since in prayer we enter into communion with God
All of this builds our understanding that Satan tries to distort each of the three fundamental orientations of man
by tempting us according to “the flesh, the world and the devil.”
When we overcome these temptations, we become the good soil that bears spiritual fruit.
†
Lead me not into temptation. If chocolate’s involved, I’ll find it myself, thank you.
Haha — yes! That is so true. I’ve never given up chocolate for Lent. I’m not that advanced. Coffee, yes, long ago. But chocolate, no, not yet.
You two are cracking me up. I read this AFTER I shared my own chocolate fast. One year, when I was about nine months pregnant, I had a very special intention and I fasted from chocolate for a month. Then I gave birth during that month. It was hard…and felt like it had a purpose. Lent feels less like it’s purposeful sometimes, so I try to give it a focus.
But, um, I’m not that advanced. I just have an IDEA to try. Siiiigh again. 🙂
Hehe, Sarah. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. I happen to stink at giving up food items. Cheerfully cleaning up children’s vomit in the middle of the night? No problem. Giving up chocolate? Still working on it.
Think of it as the different positions on the football team. You’re the chocolate-back.
I’ve given up Facebook for Lent, except for visiting my page to make sure no one hijacks it with something I’d object to. I was starting to feel like I was more trolling for gossip and inanities (and running across posts that would just make me mad.) So this helps my mental health. I also asked God to fill that time with something more useful, and by Ash Wednesday, I was invited to two Lenten Blog series. (Yours is actually #3.)
I’m also giving up soda; now the trick is to not replace that with sweets, or I’ll have to give them up, too! Suuuugaaaar!
I have a hard time figuring out how to do facebook in a healthy way. Ditto twitter. I don’t get sucked into either, mostly, but I’m not sure how I could both effectively use them well, and not let them take up time that belongs on other activities.
All things in moderation, right? I use Twitter for random thoughts and capturing moments (usually of hilarity). I try not to use either for venting, though I do, admittedly. Love Twitter, not so much FB. Using my phone for posting has definitely helped in some ways (and hurt in others).
Yes, I have backed off of FB in many ways. I still post there, but I don’t so much interact using that as a platform. Similar reasons, and my own negative reaction, much of the time. Not worth it. 🙂
I like to give up something physical/food-related. This year it’s chocolate. One year it was coffee. Distance, distance, Lord help me to hold on to you not the chocolate. Siiiigh.
Sarah, I really like your idea about writing about the Hail Mary word by word.
Thanks, Joe! 🙂
Makes perfect sense, Jen. In fact, I used to write for fun on Sundays and in the evenings, too. Now, most of the writing I do is more “work” (though still fun, I’d add), and I’ve gotten better at doing it during “work hours,” most of the time.
I’ve never been able to give up the internet for Lent (working from home will do that to ya), though I have limited myself in various ways. In some ways, for me at least, exercising discipline (as opposed to just cutting it out altogether) is harder. So I guess it’s probably more of what I need.
Fasting is handy, though, for giving me perspective and helping me cut my attachments.
And I love your resolution. I need to print it out in large paper and carry it with me, reading it every couple of minutes…
Yes, writing is still fun — sometimes I feel like I’m cheating by calling it work. And yes, moderation is *much* harder than giving up the internet altogether.
Great topic! I’ve given up the internet (as entertainment) in some previous years. Interestingly, 2012 is the year the writing switched from being leisure to being work. I used to spend Sunday afternoons writing, for fun. Now I unplug and avoid writing on Sundays, because that’s the day of rest.
So my lent this year will fit with that, writing being one of several of my responsibilities. No particular resolution in this area though, other than a general, “Do everything wholeheartedly, as if unto the Lord and not unto men.”
Does that make sense?