![\"Lent2016.001\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/230\/2016\/02\/Lent2016.001.jpeg\")
<\/a>As we near\u00a0the halfway point of the season of Lent\u00a0it occurs to me that among the\u00a0Christians who have no observance of lent, there might be more than a few who feel a little bit left out. What does one do if their church pays no attention to the season of lent? My advice would be to simply pick a lenten practice of your own and start in.<\/p>\nThere may also be a group of people who intended to observe lent, but it\u2019s just not working out. Your best intentions have gone by the wayside and now you are trying to forget that you told everyone you\u2019d give up sugar, or chocolate, or caffeine, or whatever. Don\u2019t feel bad. Spiritual growth is aided much more by failure than success. It\u2019s not too late to try again.<\/p>\n
Lent is meant to be a 40 day trip into the wilderness. We fast not to show how devoted we are, or to make God pleased with us. We fast because taking something away leaves a vacuum, and like nature, God hates a vacuum. Often a simple fast leaves room for the Spirit to come rushing in and fill the void. Time in the wilderness is necessary in order for our soul do grow and develop.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a list of simple 1 day fasts that you can observe from here on out during lent that just might make this a meaningful season for you after all. Pick a few and try them for the next few days, and see what happens.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Walk around the block
\nNo radio in the car for a day
\nPick the longest line at the grocery store
\nGo exactly the speed limit all day
\nLet others have the last word
\nDon\u2019t share your opinion
\nPut phone on airplane mode when you get home from work
\nDon\u2019t do any homework
\nEat with no plates (eat with a common dish)
\nEat standing up
\nSit in the dark for 10 minutes before you go to bed
\nRearrange your living room
\nEat a kind of food you have never eaten before
\nShower at the opposite time of the day
\nListen to a genre of music that is different from your norm
\nDon\u2019t use any drive throughs, go inside
\nTake a different route\u00a0to work
\nGo to bed early tonight
\nWatch a tv show you\u2019ve never seen before
\nChange the\u00a0background on your Phone\u2019s screen
\nCall a family member
\nGo for a car ride in\u00a0the country.
\nSweep the garage
\nSchedule a hangout with someone new
\nGreet people first
\nCall people by their name
\nSit in a different seat (I\u2019m thinking a Sunday on this one.)
\nWrite a note to someone meaningful to you
\nColor or draw a picture
\nMake your bed (or don\u2019t make your bed)
\nFind something beautiful or meaningful and simply gaze at it
\nGive away one thing you don\u2019t need today
\nEat no meat
\nPray for someone you don\u2019t\u00a0get along with
\nDon\u2019t use your debit or credit card
\nAbstain from social media
\nDrive in silence all day
\nGet outside
\nDrink only water
\nMemorize the beatitudes Matt 5:3-12<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As we near\u00a0the halfway point of the season of Lent\u00a0it occurs to me that among the\u00a0Christians who have no observance of lent, there might be more than a few who feel a little bit left out. What does one do if their church pays no attention to the season of lent? My advice would be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[430,1540,426,467],"class_list":["post-4987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-church-calendar","tag-fasting","tag-lent","tag-wilderness"],"yoast_head":"\n
It's Never Too Late to Start Observing Lent<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As we near\u00a0the halfway point of the season of Lent\u00a0it occurs to me that among the\u00a0Christians who have no observance of lent, there might be more than a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2016\/03\/its-never-too-late-to-start-observing-lent.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It's Never Too Late to Start Observing Lent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we near\u00a0the halfway point of the season of Lent\u00a0it occurs to me that among the\u00a0Christians who have no observance of lent, there might be more than a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2016\/03\/its-never-too-late-to-start-observing-lent.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Paperback Theology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=654515438\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-01T12:58:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/files\/2016\/02\/Lent2016.001.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tim Suttle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Tim_Suttle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tim Suttle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2016\/03\/its-never-too-late-to-start-observing-lent.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2016\/03\/its-never-too-late-to-start-observing-lent.html\",\"name\":\"It's Never Too Late to Start Observing Lent\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-01T12:58:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-01T12:58:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/63a7ffe567a014f809abae15ebfc44a6\"},\"description\":\"As we near\u00a0the halfway point of the season of Lent\u00a0it occurs to me that among the\u00a0Christians who have no observance of lent, there might be more than a\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2016\/03\/its-never-too-late-to-start-observing-lent.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2016\/03\/its-never-too-late-to-start-observing-lent.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2016\/03\/its-never-too-late-to-start-observing-lent.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"It’s Never Too Late to Start Observing Lent\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/\",\"name\":\"Paperback Theology\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/63a7ffe567a014f809abae15ebfc44a6\",\"name\":\"Tim Suttle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce6d230b7d3a7d50e5fc4b6c265691fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce6d230b7d3a7d50e5fc4b6c265691fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tim Suttle\"},\"description\":\"Find out more about Tim at TimSuttle.com Tim Suttle is the senior pastor of RedemptionChurchkc.com. 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