The Great Lent: sharing my Experience

I have been blessed by being invited to share my understanding of the Lent with my friends at the “The Well” fellowship at Fiskebäcks missionskyrka, here in Gothenburg, and here I write down what I said as a reminder for me before anyone else. When I was writing some points to share, I felt how I usually take the lent period for granted, maybe because it became a routine, something that I observe each year, and through the years it might have  lost some of its essence for me. This experience was a refreshment to what lent should really mean.  I pray that these words help in my edification as well as others’ who read them:

Note: what I am writing here is from the notes I prepared not exactly from what I said, differences might occur but the essence is one.

“So before sharing my understanding of what lent is to me or what fasting is in general, let’s see how God sees fasting, or what He expects from us, let me start by reading from Isaiah 58:6-10:

^“6Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

⁷Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

⁸Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy reward.

⁹Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

¹⁰And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day.“

Just before this passage Isaiah wrote about how people were complaining to the Lord that their prayers and fasting were not accepted in God’s eyes. And this was the Answer! That’s the Fasting the Lord has chosen!

So what is the Lent period? It is the time of the year when the Church remembers the 40 days that Jesus Christ fasted before He was tempted by Satan. But why did Jesus fast? Actually, He never needed to fast, He wanted to set an example before our eyes, As if by doing this He says when you fast you will be able to overcome Satan’s temptations as I did. So here is the importance of the Lent, it was practiced by Jesus Himself, and also because now we know how to overcome Satan’s temptations through the practice of fasting.

Another interesting point, it’s said that fasting is the first commandment given to Adam and Eve. Yes, Obedience was the main issue, but also they were asked to restrain themselves from one particular fruit. And when Eve listened to the serpent, she actually found the fruit tempting and appealing to the sight. Again this adds to the importance of fasting being the first commandment to the humanity.

Practically speaking then, what does the lent period mean to me? I believe it is like a workshop similar to the workshops we have at school, some intense activities in a specific time frame,  with one main outcome. The lent workshop prepares us to enter into the passion, death, and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The main aspects of this workshop are:

• Dedication: where we willingly and actively give more time and effort to worship God for example in prayer.
• Spiritual growth: when we stop focusing on nurturing our bodies and desires, and start nurturing our spirits.
• Repentance: Lent is the time for repentance and asking for forgiveness.
• Self-restraint and discipline:  It’s helpful to give up something we desire like food for some time. eventually it will lead to giving up things at higher level than mere food like bad habits for example.

A question that maybe asked here, doesn’t Lent seem legalistic as it is set by the church in a fixed time and should be observed by all? My answer is that according to my tradition there is nothing wrong when the Church guides the Body of the Lord with such conduct. I actually find this helpful for two reasons:

1. Unity: The lent helps showing how the Body of  Christ is united, in thought and pracitce.
2. Encouragement: when all the members of the one Body help each other in edification and growth.

Finally, what should we do in this period:

• well, let’s first try to follow an acceptable fast in the Eyes of the Lord According to Isaiah 58.
• Let’s give up something that we hold dear to our hearts, any sort of desire will do..
• let’s prepare ourselves to anticipate and live the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is what I wanted to share with you tonight, Have a blessed and fruitful Lent, Thank you.”

 

Julmust addiction!!

One day early this month, I went to a supermarket, to buy some grocery. I found some huge piles of bottles that contain a drink that looked like Coke but with the Swedish word “julmust”. I wondered what was that drink? why it wasn’t there before? why there was a huge amount of it? and since I am a geek in some way. I remembered the name and did an extensive search over the Internet to find answers to my important (at least to me!) questions. Actually it wasn’t hard to find answers, and I was satisfied with my abilities to solve mysteries!! And then the logical question came on my mind, When will you try this native Swedish drink? should I wait till Christmas as it is supposed to be? or should I wait until a friend offers me that drink? or should I wait for a special offer in the supermarket?!

I discarded these thought for a while, and then on another visit to the supermarket, I found my invitation to try it? two bottles of julmust for the price of one!! yay!! it was a golden chance!! but wait a moment, what if I didn’t like it? will I throw the 3 liters away?! No, that is not me!! (I never throw any consumable product that I spent money on!!). So there was a risk!  I took my chances, and bought the 3 liters, running home to try my new adventurous drink!! and BAM!!  It was great!! and I have to say that after drinking those three liters of this magical drink, I am starting to be addicted to it!! I dream about my next glass of julmust, I feel some itchiness and craving for this drink!

I really don’t know what will I do when the Christmas is over, and there is no more julmust!! I salute the inventors of this drink! Julmust FTW!!

PS. If you are a geek like me, find more on this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julmust

PSS. I would like it more if there is an alcoholic version of it.