Lent 4.5(Studio Cut)

Its the time of year again for many of us to decide if we're giving up soft drinks or chocolate for the next 40 days...Ahh the Lenten fast!  Before I go any further, I must tell you I've had a personal struggle with the Lenten fast in recent years...

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:  I started writing about my issues and opinions on the Lenten fast in great detail, but it was a little too deep, too lengthy, had a negative tone and didn't fit the overall mood of the blog.  I saved that version as the "director's cut", and anyone interested in reading it, consider this your invitation to contact me. I'd love to share it and/or discuss the topic of Lenten fasting with you.  The remainder of this post is the "studio cut," the version with a much lighter, happier tone which should appeal more to the general audience.

So on that note, I've put together a list of some of the sad attempts at Lenten sacrifice I, and other people I know, have made for ourselves:  

• Dark Soft drinks - but Sprite, MT Dew, etc were ok
• Regular soft drinks - but diet soft drinks were ok
• Beer - but not hard liquor(college logic was behind this terrible idea)
• Light Beer - if he was going to drink, he wanted a headache to pay for it 
• Cookies - excluding Girl Scout cookies because those are charitable
• Birthday Cake - but all other cakes were acceptable
• TV- excluding the NCAA tournament
• Chocolate Ice Cream - but all other flavors were acceptable
• Chocolate, AKA - "plan B", "old reliable", or "the fall back plan"

Needless to say, I've wanted to get more out of the Lenten sacrifice the past few years.  Those of you who have been reading this blog(thanks!) know the history behind the recent kick I've been on about living a simple life and eliminating wasteful habits.  I was thinking about the upcoming Lenten season and how I could incorporate those notions into my Lenten fast.

Coincidentally(not ironically), I was reading an article recently and stumbled across a program called Lent 4.5.  I looked it up online and was intrigued by the idea...

 The program is based on the idea that if you took the surface area of the earth and divided it by the 7 billion people living here, we would each have 4.5 acres of land.  From our 4.5 acres, we would have to make our food, get water for cooking and cleaning, get wood and materials for our home and furniture, produce the metals and plastics for our appliances and cars, make materials for our clothing, create the energy we need for lights/power, produce oil for our cars, and dispose of all of our waste. 

On the Lent 4.5 website, it cites a 2009 study which declared it takes 22.3 acres of land to support the average American's lifestyle.  The idea of Lent 4.5 is to move ourselves from 22.3 acres down to something closer to our "fair share" of 4.5 acres.  The program focuses on one topic each week: Christian simplicity, food, consumption, water, energy, transportation and generosity/gratitude. 

I was so intrigued by the idea that I called the program director and spoke with her for almost an hour.  I told her my church wasn't participating, but I wanted to do the program myself.  She sent me the weekly handouts, a group discussion workbook and some additional material they issue to each church coordinator.   I also signed up on on their website to receive weekly reflections via email to help along the way.

The thing I liked most is that it is a formation process to help us change our habits and behaviors.   Its not just another glorified diet that ends on Easter morning when you eat a 3 lb chocolate bunny for breakfast.  Each week there is a list of activities we can do to cut down our consumption. There are also reflections on scripture, videos or articles about the weekly topic, as well as various other information.  So you can get involved with it as much or as little as you'd like.    

The purpose of my post today is to invite you to check out their website.  If this is something that strikes a chord with you, please contact me.  I would love to have some people to discuss things with and share different ideas throughout the Lenten season - and even beyond.  As you can probably tell, I'm pretty gung-ho about it, but please don't shy away from my enthusiasm!  I don't expect everyone to be as passionate about it, but would love to hear any input that anyone has.  Even if you don't want to formally participate in the program at all, I am willing to share my thoughts and ideas with anyone who wants to listen.  

Anyway, that is all that's been on my mind lately...well that, and the fact that my wife will have a human drop out of her crotch any day now.  God has certainly been good to us this year, and we hope to take this Lenten season to reflect on the many blessings our family has been given.  To those of you who participate in a Lenten ritual, I wish you good luck deciding your fast and abstinence this year!