Lent and Valentine's Day
Father, thank you for the day and the ability to be alive and to make a contribution to somebody's life again today.
Today is Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day.
Both of these events signify love. It is mostly Roman Catholics that follow the tradition of Lent which is a time of fasting and cutting back on certain items. giving to the poor and following the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert when his ministry started. Certain other churches will focus on the suffering of Jesus in this period leading to his death on the cross and his resurrection after his death.
Normally restaurants will be busy today and people will be buying flowers for their loved ones. It is a day to celebrate love and also a day to celebrate solitude if that is where you are in your life. A partner makes life different, but you do not require a partner to live fully.
In this next 40 days it is a good time to reflect on my relationship with Jesus and my relationship with others. It is a good time to reflect on my relationship with myself, my relationship with money, my relationship with assets, my relationship with other believers - those who agree with me and those who disagree with me, my relationship with authority, my relationship with politics, my relationship with the earth, my relationship with one other special person, my relationship with my family and my relationship with my spiritual family.
It is a very good time to reflect about the state of my health or more importantly my well-being. Am I in the best shape possible? What does my fitness say? How long does it take me to walk or run a mile (1,6km)? Is that better than six months ago? Why or why not? What could I do about that? When last did I fast for health reasons? How long was that? What did I experience? What is my waistline measurement? What is that as a percentage of my height (length)? Is that over 50%? How much did that change the past year? Has it gone in the right direction? Is that under 30%? How strong am I? Could I carry a suitcase easily? Could I carry a 12 kg child easily? How far or how long? Could I walk 5km? What is the time that I take for that? Is that better than a year ago? Is it worse? How many push ups can I do? Is that a full push up? Is that better than a year ago or not? What medication am I taking at the moment? Is that the same as a year ago? What is the long-term effect of that medication? How can I reduce the medication? When could I do that? How can I get rid of the medication? How do we do that?
What about my spiritual life? Am I reading the Bible? Do I follow a reading plan? Do I reflect on the Bible? Do I implement what the Bible says? What about addictions? How do I handle that? What about mobile phone and Netflix or sport? How much time do I spend on that? What about alcohol? What is my relationship with that? What about my relationship with food? How am I doing on that front?
What about pornography and me? Am I caught in that web? Who will help me to break free? How can I do that? Who do I trust enough to share that aspect of my life with to be able to get support and assistance and accountability? How do I break free from that?
On a practical level - do I have enough money every month? How do I address that? Where could I make some changes in income and expenses? What responsibility can I take over this area of my life?
What happens in my future? Will I work forever? What provisions do I have? What plans could I make?
Then - what are my deepest dreams that I am almost too afraid to share with anybody else? Dreams that I am even afraid to share with God, dreams that I have buried so deep that I do not mention that to anybody else, dreams that I have decided would never be possible to chase.Is it not time for those dreams to surface again?
Holy Spirit, make me sensitive for your presence and your persistent voice in my life! Make your dreams my dreams and kindle dreams in my life again. Be the light and the flame in my life, Amen!
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