No, I'm not going to give up blogging for lent (shame I hear you cry!). Instead I am going to continue, but with added Christian Aid! As for the past few years Christian Aid are running "Count Your Blessings" which is a scheme to help you reflect on other parts of the world and raise money at the same time. Today's challenge:
883 million people worldwide often don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Give 10p for each hour between your last meal and your next.Well, lets say that is 5 hours, as I am writing in the afternoon and had a late lunch, so that's 50p.
I read a good blog on lenten discipline, so using the Vernacular Curate's pattern ...
There goes the chocolate until after Easter - which might also have beneficial effect on the waistline. Lets just hope I don't forget like I did one year and have a choccy biscuit without even realising L. Still I remember reading someone somewhere saying that it is good to fail at your lenten discipline because it reminds you that you can achieve nothing alone!
I too will be blogging and I have bought the Archbishops Lent book by Lucy Winkett - so that can join my pile of unread books (hope not).
As I am in the same Archdeaconry as my Vernacular mate I too have been offered an extra day off a week during lent. There has been much talk among the clergy about how this isn't helpful, life is even busier in lent - so please can we have the time off at another time. With little experience of a clerical lent I think that our Area Bishop had it spot on - if it is not possible to find an extra day off in lent then we are doing too much and need to stop doing some things - if you do what you've always done you'll get what you've always got. I have put these days in my diary, but to do so meant having to take some other things out - perhaps easier as a curate than an incumbent, but the principle holds. As for taking on something new... not sure about that one for me, though I am planning to attend the Churches Together for Chesham Lent lectures which has an excellent set of speakers.
And finally... time - that old chestnut - well, not looking good on this front - but with the extra time off I think I will be less stressed and am planning to make time to read a new book!
And with people out there watching in there might just be the odd extra incentive to keep things going.
I like the Christian Aid "Count your blessing". I used something similar one year when the kids were younger, they made me put in ten pence for every cup of tea - it was a small fortune, I used to try and sneak one on the sly!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are not giving up blogging:)