lent and faith

[tielan]

George Pell: The inconsistencies of his defenders just shows how much power they have.

Not a particularly enjoyable read about power and the abuse of it to build up the strong and keep down the weak.

I feel that if one is a Christian and thinks that Pell has been unjustly accused and convicted (ftr, I don't), then one can take heart in that Jesus was also unjustly accused, that God's justice is not merely temporal in the here and now but eternal in the forever and the innocent will see justice, and that people who have also been bruised and battered and silenced and scarred by abuse in religious institutions or any institutions will believe that their voices may be heeded and speak out seeing that rank is no barrier to conviction.

--

Today is the start of Lent. I hadn't actually planned to give anything up, but a post on FB made me reconsider. I don't think I could give anything up right now, but I am wondering if I could take something on.

Reading through a devotion and writing notes on it, perhaps? I've been very bad at steady reading, so using something like this during Lent would be good. In the meantime, I've signed up for the Common Grace Lenten series, because I like their reflections, even if I'd prefer a little more in-depth study and thought.

Comments

[ladyjax]

I really like the practice of taking on something. The times I've done it, I get a snapshot into why or why not I stick with a practice and it also gives me an opportunity to be gentle with myself.

[tielan]

I am not very good at Lent - or I haven't been in the past. Room for improvement.

(Sometimes I think my problem is not so much 'not being gentle with myself' so much as 'not being as hard on myself as I maybe should; making too many excuses'.)

[ladyjax]

My first years of Lent as an adult were memorable because I was still operating on the "you gotta give something up" mode. Additionally, I sat with my priest at the time and walked through the Reconciliation of the Penitent as found in the Book of Common Prayer (USA 1979 version)

These days, I don't have a church home and I still don't know where I'm at with most parts of Christianity these days but I still respond to the seasons of the church and the rituals that go with it. Having days where I can truly mark time and give myself the space to ask questions is what Lent is for me now.

[velithya]

I genuinely don't understand why they're trying to reframe the narrative, calling it "child sex" etc etc like that makes it any better ??? UGH.