Lenten thoughts

End of the first week - at least I think it is: the LLLL book isn’t very clear. Anyway as Lent ends on Easter Saturday, I’m going for a short first week. This is the first year I’ve tried to do multiple things - and positive ones - rather than give something up. This approach doesn’t have the same constant reminder of the meaning of lent, but it is much more positive. I think I’ve done most of the actions suggested in the first week and have been on the lookout to find the right opportunities to do so.

The Tearfund activity for today was to Ask whether you can give a short notice or lead a prayer at church or in your home group. So I was pleased go be asked at fairly short notice to read the lesson in the family service this morning, particularly as the theme of the service was Water Aid.

Lent - Sundays?

I’ve done a little research on Lent. Wikipedia states quite clearly ‘In Western Christianity (with the exception of the Archdiocese of Milan which follows the Ambrosian Rite), Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes on Holy Saturday. The six Sundays in Lent are not counted among the forty days because each Sunday represents a "mini-Easter", a celebration of Jesus' victory over sin and death’ I’ve also counted: if Lent is 40 days, the Sundays are not included: the Tearfund campaign has 46 days!

Relying on Wikipedia is not necessarily a good idea: have you heard of the obituaries of the composer Ronnie Hazlehurst who wrote the theme tunes for many TV programmes including The Two Ronnies, Reggie Perrin and Last Of The Summer Wine? Someone had put on his Wikipedia entry that he had also written Reach for S Club 7 (he hadn't, of course) This fact got into the obituaries published by The Times, The Independent, BBC News and The Stage. You can read about it here. So don’t rely on everything you read on the web.

Comments

Thank you Helen for keeping the feedback going - but were are the rest of you? In case you’ve tried and failed, here again is the short guide to help you.