Lenten Practices-Intro & Week 1

​Happy Lenten season,
As was mentioned during the CBMC worship yesterday, a weekly email is going to be issued over the six weeks of lent offering some suggestions on how you can participate in spiritual practices to deepen your relationship with God as we approach Easter.  The six spiritual practices to be presented one at time over the coming six weeks are:
    Fasting
    Examen
    Holy Attention
    Centering Prayer
    Lectio Divina    
    Silence
Below is the practice for week one.  Please prayerfully consider how you might use these practices, and let me know if you have questions or concerns about them.  
May God bless your efforts,
Wally

Week 1: Fasting
 What “Fasting” Means in Lent: Fasting during Lent is a spiritual discipline meant to help us walk with Jesus the path to the cross – freeing ourselves to be all that God needs us to be for our human family.  It’s less about deprivation for its own sake and more about creating space for reflection, prayer, and transformation. 

 Core Purposes of Lenten Fasting:  Spiritual focus By reducing distractions—often food, habits, or comforts—believers make room for deeper prayer and awareness of God.  Self-discipline Fasting strengthens the practice of saying no to impulses so one can say yes to what matters.  Solidarity with others Many Christians use fasting as a reminder of those who lack basic necessities, often pairing it with acts of charity.  Repentance and renewal Lent is a season of turning back toward God; fasting symbolizes that inward change. 

 The Heart Behind It : The point isn’t to “prove” devotion through suffering. Instead, fasting is meant to:  Make interior space for the Spirit of God to bless and transform us for being an ever-greater blessing to our world  Walk with Jesus who offers ‘all’ for love of the world 

Practices that you and your family may find helpful as a focus for your Fast:
1. Less is the path to more . . . a reflection 
This is about wholeness.  
This is about justice.  
This is about a new way of living. 
This is about embracing the Christ-way.  
This is about a spirituality of RESISTING anything that tries to convince us that MORE:
    Stuff  
    Effort  
    Control  
    Wealth  
    Popularity 
    Success  
Can replace the longing for God inherent within.  
 
Jesus knew this in the desert when he uttered each sacred NO,  
When he practiced the restraint that clarified his call.  
Are we too in a desert place?  
 
What are we invited to resist and release  
To get to the heart of what we truly crave?  
This is about wholeness.  
This is about justice.  
This is about belonging.  
This is about our planet.  
This is about our oneness.  
 
Listen to the gentle invitation  
Signaling a different way: 
LESS, LESS, LESS  
Is the path to the MORE  
You seek.  
 
2. A Sabbath from Commerce 
Theme: Stopping the Machine (Ched Myers) 
The Big Idea: Sabbath isn't just about church; it's about taking time to rest and connect with God each week. We can also take a sabbath each week to stop the cycle of spending money. 
The Activity: 
Choose: Pick one day this week (Saturday or Sunday) to be a No Spend Day. 
The Rules: No groceries, no gas stations, no online shopping, no vending machines. 
The Feeling: "Did it feel weird not to buy anything today?" 
The Freedom: "Did we spend more time together because we weren't shopping?" 
      Closing Prayer: "Lord of the Sabbath, thank you for a day to rest from buying and selling. Remind us that the best things in life—your love and our family—are free. Amen." 
 
3. Reducing Our Grocery Budget  
During Lent our Focus is on Economic Justice. Around the world, and even in our own towns and cities, many must live on a budget far less than what we do. What would it look like to reduce your grocery budget? by 25%? By 50%?  
 
What if we donated that surplus to those in need? 
 
Your challenge: For the weeks of lent consider a budget for groceries less than usual, and see how you might live within those means. Prayerfully consider an organization to donate those funds to at the end of the lenten season. 
***
Week 1 for children

A Lenten Journey for Children and Youth
Welcome to a Lenten journey created for children, youth and their families. We offer the following suggestions and spiritual practices as a way to include children on the journey.

Young children learn through their feelings. Focus on feelings of love, kindness, and generosity.

Older children understand responsible choices, being kind to others, and taking care of the Earth.

Youth are learning what it means to be a member of a global community. They will understand issues of social justice and how they can make a difference in the world. 
This week is about fasting with a focus on responsible choices and making time and space for God. What can you let go of that no longer serves you to make room for God?

Spiritual Practices
The Manna Walk
In the Bible, God gave Manna (bread) but told the people to only take what they could hold for one day.

The activity:
1. Take a walk in a park, a field, or your yard.
2. Pick up nature treasures (stones, sticks, pinecones), but only keep what fits in one hand.
3. If you try to grab too much, things will fall.

Family Talk:  The Struggle: Was it hard to stop picking things up? Why do we always want just one more?  The Lesson: If we take too much, there isn't enough left for others. How canwe practice taking just enough at home?

God of Daily Bread,
Teach us to be satisfied with what fits in our hands, so our neighbors can have enough in theirs. Amen.

Breath Prayer
A breath prayer is a short simple prayer that is repeated while breathing in and out as a word or phrase is paired with each inhale and exhale. It is used as a way to connect with and deepen your connection with God.

Steps:
Sit comfortably in a quiet space. Close your eyes.
Breathe deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
Choose a word or short phrase to repeat with each breath in and out.
Examples:
Fill me spirit (in breath) with you love (out breath).
God of hope….bless me with your presence.
Lord, fill me….with your peace.
Open me God….to receive more of you.
Be with whatever arises. There is no right or wrong.
Repeat this process for several minutes.

A Blessing
As you journey through lent with the children and youth in your life, may the spiritual practices you engage in together bring you and your children to a deeper and more intimate relationship with God.