1x Week: Unplug
On the day that you select to fast, you might consider one or more of the following (and by the way – you can also add your own ideas by responding below!):
Reading a Lenten Devotional
Commit seven, fifteen, or thirty minutes to study, reflection, and prayer. Check out the new Lenten series produced Presbyterians for Earth Care, or download Robert Foster’s Seven Minutes with God.
Reading Poetry
Meditate on a short piece by a favorite poet. You might start with John Donne’s Holy Sonnets or Gerard Manley Hopkins’s collected works.
Taking a Meditative Walk
Step outside to think about life, God, and creation. A list of walks and hikes in Mercer County is available here.
Helping somebody
Pretty simple idea here! What would it feel to set aside your night of lenten practice to simply help someone: call up a friend who is lonely and ask to have dinner, offer to clean someone’s kitchen, visit someone who is shut-in, go find a service project to do in your community, pick up trash in the local park. Be creative! And feel God’s love for you, as you help someone else.
Playing a Board Game
Grab your kids, friends, or spouse and jump into the discipline of healthy competition. For many great game ideas, click here.
This site is an excellent way to explore this very simple daily prayer practice. If you would like to learn more about Ignatian spirituality, here’s another site. Ignatius and Calvin had somewhat similar theologies.
