Lent: giving up Gransnet!

Petallus, if you manage it, respect!!

What if you miss a good recipe for simnel cake?

Thanks!

Not giving up anything.At my age I enjoy whilst I can.
I'll OD on pancakes tomorrow ..yummy!

Reading through this thread has made me realise more clearly what I dislike about Lent, or at least what I don't like about the way it is portrayed. The first is the money aspect which has been mentioned more than once. The second is the penance aspect. Doing things that benefit others, or which one does for – how shall I put this? – personal soul-strengthening (i.e. just to prove you can do something that you find hard) need not involve either money or penance. In fact, in my experience it usually doesn't. So why emphasise those things?

I know you aren't emphasising them, petallus. It's a more general question.

I suppose I find the idea of penance for the hell of it a bit.... nauseating if I use a strong word, daft if I use a weaker word. I think this is because my usual penance after going to confession as a child was to say some prayers such as Hail Marys. Never did a scrap of good and it didn't make sense to me, whereas having to mend or pay for something I'd damaged, say, made perfect sense and taught me how to be more careful with things, especially if they belonged to someone else.

Rambling, as ever!

I didn't know there was any money, or penance involved. I thought It was just, originally, to empathise with Jesus!

People do it these days (if not religious) to test themselves and, hopefully, make them stronger.

There are NO days off. #moderninvention

I have never heard of Christians having Sunday off, are you sure?

I think that the point of giving something up or doing something extra is about self discipline. It's about doing something over and above what we normally do either for our own good or for the good of others. 40 days is a good length of time to really make us focus. Just think how good that would be for the liver of someone who drinks or the cholestrol level of someone who eats chocolate let alone the impact of doing things for someone outside one's normal circle.

The point about confession/contrition/penance is that you have time to reflect on your actions and their consequences and try to do better. I get the impression there are a number of agnostic/atheist posters who were brung up quite thoroughly in the Christian faith and have rejected what they were taught as children. Complex ideas have to be taught to children in a simple and comprehensible way. And a lot of children start asking questions of themselves - quite right, too. But if they don't ask the right person and don't get sensible answers they can end up rejecting the whole story as not making sense. It isn't all superstitious nonsense!

I can not see the point of abstaining from social websites unless you are going to use the time to work as a volunteer for a charity.

lily, I haven't rejected what I was taught about being good. I've rejected religion. Two completely different things, being good (or trying to be) and being religious. I still have time to reflect on my doings, good and bad, without Lent. Therefore, to me, Lent is pointless.

Which is not the same as saying reflection and changing habits is pointless. Not at all. I just don't need Lent to do those things; they are part of my life all the time.

I bet they are part of yours all the time too.

Do we need Lent to make us think of our actions, cant we do that all year round. Do you have to store things up until next Lent.

With you on that one glass should be ongoing.

It is easy to just carry on as you always have but it is also good to set aside a time (Lent or any other time) to try to do more and make extra effort to improve your own life or give extra help to others. I think it is very rare to find someone who couldn't improve their life or someone else's. Perhaps something we do in this special time will have a knock on effect. I certainly have many areas where I could improve either for myself or others.

Mid-Lent Sunday also known as Refreshment Sunday and - yes- Mothering Sunday is a day off - recognising our human frailty I expect. Good planning anyway as also often close to my birthday so celebrating/ G&T/ chocolates not ruled out. Not that I ever give anythng up for Lent these days, I do think that taking something up would be more useful and they say that is you do something for is it 3 weeks (?) it becomes a habit - so early morning power walks maybe?
Lent lunches in our village used to raise money for the church but became so competitive with farmers' wives and the good ladies of the parish outdoing each other with their delicious vegetable soups and choice of cheeses - penance was the LAST thing on your mind!

Lent lunches in our village used to raise money for the church but became so competitive with farmers' wives and the good ladies of the parish outdoing each other with their delicious vegetable soups and choice of cheeses - penance was the LAST thing on your mind!

Had to laugh at this the same thing happens here. I don't think the 'parish ladies' have quite got the idea.

From Woodland Junior School (best source of info on the web):

"Sundays are always a day of celebration in the Christian church and so they cannot be included in the 40 fast days of Lent. Sundays commemorate the Resurrection."

But I still don't think you are allowed to go back on chocolate, or GN!

Yes! JO8 I have happened across Woodlands Junior School website. Its an amazing source of information on science stuff as well. I think it was weather related stuff I was looking at, can't remember now.

Read somewhere of a vicars daughter planning her wedding during Lent. They plumped for a Sunday so that they could toast the happy couple evidently the intake of communion wine also extends to champagne. I rather like having a forty day focus I,m making a quilt for charity and I've tol d myself that it will be finished by Easter.
Is anyone else making Waitrose almond milk pancakes tomorrow? My youngest GC gets rough patches after milk so I'm mixing them tonight.

Yes j08 I heard that 'excuse' from my big Christian friend.

Still think it's a cop-out, even if it does have theological backing.

bags I'm not giving up anything. Never do. Can't see the point. Life's too short.

Harrigran I'm abstaining from Gransnet because it is a really big thing to give up.

Can't see the point of giving up chocolate and things like that (too trivial) and anway that is often sellf-serving since people nearly always want to lose weight.

No, this will require real effort and as for what good it will do, well it's going to be subtle.

Already I am:

Bonding with my GS and helping him give up his addiction to Facebook

Setting him a good example.

Demonstrating trust and trustworthiness (we have to trust each other not to sneakily go on the forums when the other won't know about it).

But anyway, I'm only using Lent as a bolstering factor. I don't have any religious duty because I am not a Christian.

I shall not give up anything. I shall continue to live the life that I'm comfortable with. As an aetheist, I'm not bothered by religious feast days. They come and go...and I'm unconcerned, because to me, they are irrelevant. As a pupil at a convent school, I performed way beyond my fair share of acts of contrition. When, at the age of 17, I walked out of the convent door for the last time, I left behind the very thing that had caused me to feel utterly confused and totally miserable: religion.

However, as I've to prepare for tomorrow's hospital procedure, I shall do so forthwith. I may be back a little later. If not, I send cyber-hugs to you lot. I shall let Bags know when I'm back on the ward.