Christianity
Fortunately For Us, Writing and Praying Are Not Competitive Activities
Yet, we still feel like others are winning and we are losing.
Best Lent Ever
According to the Matthew Kelly videos I have been watching, this is supposed the be the Best Lent Ever! I must admit, with his assistance (nightly reflective videos) and the group of 14 other men of faith, this 2021 Lenten season has been more intentional. Yet I remain undecided about whether it has been more fruitful than in past years. I cannot recall exactly how many drinks I have had (this is my 6th year of giving up alcohol for Lent) this Lenten season compared to previous years, but is that the true test of the success of Lent?
This year, in addition to giving up alcohol, again, and the biweekly fasting (Wednesday & Friday), I have taken to journaling the experience via this Medium account. And for those that have been following this journey, know that I have not been as consistent as I set out to be. 40 days of Lent, 40 Medium stories posted. Started off reasonably well with my Top 10 Songs for Lenten Season. The next day, nothing.
OK.
40 days of Lent Medium posts became 4 weeks of Lent Medium posts, 1 post per week. But as we enter the final week of Lent, Holy Week, I know that I will fall short of this goal. This article was supposed to be published last week! And as I stumble towards the end of this story, I simultaneously forget that the daily readings and prayer were supposed to be the inspiration for the posts. An entanglement that restricts any progress in any area.
Fortunately for us, writing and praying are not competitive activities. Writing, perhaps, might be a legitimate source of income for people but for a large number of us, it is more of a therapeutic tool. So, too, is prayer. In both activities, we vent, meditate, cry, and discover what is underneath the mask we put on as we wake up. It is in the depths of prayer and journaling that we find what is on our hearts and in looking back on what we have prayed for and written about, we discover a way forward.
This will always be the case. We must remember that prayer and writing are our tools for coping and not for attracting followers. The greatest follower is God, and he never unfollows you, even when you don’t post.
Amen †
