Lent? It’s a piece of cake

I don’t normally give anything up for Lent. I may be wrong, but I think a lot of people use it as an excuse to kill two birds with one stone: lose a bit of weight/save a few quid and be able to tell people you’re going without something.

I’m not saying self-sacrifice is a bad thing, but I don’t see any biblical basis for staying off the cake for a month (feel free to correct me below if you do).

So when I heard about the 40acts challenge I was somewhat refreshed. Instead of giving something up, Stewardship, the charity organising it, is encouraging people to spend the 40 days doing something positive; introducing an act of generosity for each day.

This might sound like a lot of hard work, but actually each task is very doable. The first, for example, was creating a “giving jar”. If you’re giving something up for Lent, the aim is to set the corresponding sum aside for a cause of your choice. For example, if you normally have a posh coffee on the way to work, try going without and sticking the coins in your jar instead.

I have to confess, I haven’t located my jar yet, but I’m definitely going to and will aim to set aside a few doubloons every day. It’ll probably take me 40 days to decide where the money’s going, but by then I should have a healthy stash to distribute.

Stewardship is also providing daily notes of encouragement for challenge taker-uppers. Yesterday’s came from the charity’s CEO, Mike O’Neill, who said: “Between now and Easter Sunday you, me and millions of other Christians around the world will walk an ancient path. Some of us will give up chocolate, coffee or cakes, while others will become pilgrims; literally walking in the footsteps of countless generations.

“Whatever we do, Lent will unite us: the persecuted Christian living in the Middle East, the farmer struggling against a changing climate in Peru, the mother in fear of war or pain of poverty. And those of us who are none of the above.”

Today’s challenge is to cross a social divide. I’m not entirely sure how I’ll do this, but I’m going on a long train journey today so I’ve no doubt I’ll have plenty of opportunity!

Ram Gidoomal, chairman of South Asian Concern (SAC), comments: “It is all too easy for us to live separate lives, keeping ourselves to ‘our own people’. Sometimes we feel uncertain about how to relate, or are afraid of making mistakes, so being British we don’t do anything…

“That ‘reserve’ can actually be a lack of love. A few years ago I was leading a training session to help church members build relationships with their South Asian neighbours. We encouraged them to talk to at least one Asian person in the coming week.

“At the next session we invited feedback. At first there was silence. Then a woman stood up and told us: ‘At the school gate the Asian mothers and the white mothers stand in separate groups. They don’t talk to each other. They don’t even make eye contact. Last Tuesday I went and stood next to the Asian mothers.’

“A small step, but it had a profound impact.”

Over the next month or so I’m determined to have my cake and eat it. But I’m also going to get into the habit of practising generosity each and every day. Hopefully this will become a lifelong habit.

[If giving generously for the next 40 days doesn’t excite you enough, the Bible Society has produced a free audio New Testament. It’s been broken up into 28-minute chunks so, by the time Easter Sunday arrives, listeners will have made it through the whole of the New Testament. You don’t even have to read it; you can listen while you walk the dog or make dinner. Visit www.biblesociety.org.uk to download your free copy.] 

Read more from Joy in the upcoming issue of Liberti.