Lent Rules

Rules and regulations can send the best of us running for high ground, but in Lent being a bit more structured and deliberate about our spiritual lives is no bad thing.

Many people find it helpful to have a Lent Rule to guide them through the next six weeks. A Lent Rule goes a little bit beyond not eating chocolate but should not be so complicated that you fail miserably within the first two days.

The point of a Lent rule is the most important thing - and that point is to begin to iron out the wrinkles in our relationship with God and to concentrate a little bit harder on that relationship and what it might mean in our lives.

There are often two sorts of things which we do in Lent. The first might be too work on something which we intend to keep going afterwards - so if we are giving up we might give up some bad habit in Lent or, equally, we might pick up a good habit, like reading the Bible every day or saying daily prayers.

Then there are those sorts of things which are time limited. Perhaps you want to join a Lent Group or give up chocolate or even make a special donation to charity. The special extra effort things which help our walk with God and improve our discipline but probably are a little out of reach for all day every day.

A Lent Rule needs to be written down. Even if it is only one item it is really useful to be able to go somewhere and look at what we have promised God we will do. Especially if it is something we find hard, the temptation is to bend the edges a little - if is is written down it is easy to see what we were aiming at.

A Lent Rule is between you and God (although some people like to ask for help coming up with one from a Priest or Spiritual Director). There is no virtue in either telling everyone how holy you are being during Lent or feeling bad about yourself because you feel everyone else is doing bigger and better things.

So some practical guidance to writing your Lent Rule:

First pray about it. You are doing this to get closer to God so asking God to guide you seems an obvious first step.

Choose things that you can achieve. Whilst there is some virtue in testing yourself if your whole rule falls apart in the first few hours you will feel dejected and let down by the whole thing. Think about the pattern of your life and your limitations, think about what you are good and bad at. Offer the good and prepare to work slowly to improve the things you find difficult.

Think about different sorts of things you can put in your rule. Generally there are three categories - giving up, doing more and works of charity. I would suggest at least one from each group.

Giving up does not just mean food and drink - although this is sometimes a good discipline to start with. Giving up also means turning our backs on those things which divide us off from Christ. so, for example, if you tend to get furious when you are driving you car, perhaps you could decide that you will work on that. It can be really hard to give bad habits up, especially emotional habits, so sometimes a good Lent rule can be to say to ourselves that when we catch ourselves in the moment, for example with our hand jammed on our horn, we will simply say sorry to God and ask for help next time. Surprisingly this sort of grace-filled giving up can be remarkably effective - we are forgiven straight away (at least by God if not our fellow road users) and have done something positive.

Doing. Lent is a great time to try something new or to catch up on those things which we feel nagging at us the rest of the time. Whilst saying you will read a chunk of the Bible every day for ever is big deal saying you will do it for six weeks is possible. If you know you will not make it every day, set your bar lower, say you will read when you know you can and pencil it into your diary so you do not get too busy. There are plenty of fantastic resources - from Daily Prayers on the internet which can be sent to your phone, to books of daily readings, not forgetting Lent for Everyone: Matthew which is this year's Big Read. There are so many things to do, getting to Church five minutes early to pray, coming to a weekday service - even singing a hymn in the shower!

Works of charity. It is important to have this as a separate category as our doing can all too easily end up looking in the mirror at ourselves. It is important to work on our own journeys but it is also important to reach out to those around us. Traditionally this has meant giving some extra money away during Lent, and if we can afford this it is important to consider it. But as many of us as stretched as thin as it goes financially, how about thinking about helping someone close by -or even smiling at people and saying Good Morning as you walk down the street.

Lent Rules are also cumulative if you do them from year to year - although something may start as a Lent discipline it often, gradually, over the years, spreads into more and more of our lives. The idea of spiritual growth is a real one - as we mature so does our faith and our understanding of God and God's world expands. Lent can be a time of focus which encourages that expansion.

When you have processed this, get a piece of paper (and this technophile still prefers paper for this task) and write down what you are going to do (and not do). Try to keep it to about half a dozen points. In my written Lent Rule I tend to try not to have more than six points and I try not to write things in to it which are things which have become (good!) habits anyway.

It is nice to have all this ready to go on Ash Wednesday but Lent is about a journey and if you come to it half way through it is not too late to start. Offer the Rule to God. If you have made it too hard, allow yourself to change it. If you are not feeling challenged, add some things in (but not too many!).

And finally if you get it wrong, say sorry and keep going. If week three involves an eighty hour work week and you fall for the Mars bar in the vending machine at the office, do not throw the baby out with the bath water - every day is a new day of God's grace and every day can be committed afresh. And at the heart of it, with all its overtones, that is what Lent is about, fresh starts. It is about our journey with and too Christ and God's remarkable generosity in constantly picking us up, dusting us off, and setting us back on our feet. We have a good distance ahead of us and a good Lent rule is just one of the tools for that journey.