Yesterday (Thursday 20th) I marked the second day of Lent by having a cooked breakfast at Ditton Priors, lunch at the Pheasant at Neenton then tea and biscuits with friends. Tomorrow I will have a (large) cooked breakfast at the Down. Some people give up chocolate or alcohol for Lent; I am giving up dieting. Fasting has always been considered to be a useful spiritual discipline, albeit one I have never attempted. My excuse is that we all have different spiritualities; we can chose practices that work best for us. The big idea behind Lent for people of faith is that it is a period when we reflect on our core values; what we believe and what that should mean for us. In some form or other, that involves stripping away the undergrowth of our lives to see more clearly what is beneath. Even if people have no conventual religious faith, self-examination is still important. All can learn from Lent and what fasting or other forms of discipline are meant to encourage.
