A couple of years ago, our minister (in a Congregational United Church of Christ) suggested that we give up VIOLENCE for Lent, as part of the Decade to Overcome Violence movement. That meant no TV news, no action-packed movies or CSI. It was the most remarkable personal experience, and one I try to emulate each year at this time, to experience the slowing-down-ness and greater sense of the abundance of God’s gifts. Of course, we had - and still have some very big prayers to say for the warring parties around the world in this context.

I am Christian—I consider myself non-denominational, but most would call the worship services I attend pentacostally slanted. I have given up many things to “invoke” God into my situations…TV, food, mindless telephone conversations, the list goes on, and on. Often times, the absence of these things provides more time to pray, mediate, and find inspiration by spending more time reading the Bible or other spiritually intellectual documents. It works…but I find that what works better is to GIVE SOMETHING rather than give something up. In essence, if I see the lack of God’s presence in the world and it troubles me enough to not eat in order to pray about it, I have found that after praying, crying, meditating over it…the God in me requires action…personal involvement beyond what I would normally do. Fasting and Lenten sacrifices work…but personal involvement and committment should always be what comes next. (please forgive any mispelled words…it is really early here :-0).

As a Baha’i we have a Fast. It is from sunrise to sunset. And it is for 19 days (our calendar has 19 day months) . The fasting period, which lasts nineteen days starting as a rule from the second of March every year and ending on the twentieth of the same month, involves complete abstention from food and drink from sunrise till sunset. It is essentially a period of meditation and prayer. Fasting is of two kinds, material and spiritual. The material fasting is abstaining from food or drink, that is, from the appetites of the body. But spiritual, ideal fasting is this, that man abstain from selfish passions, from negligence and from satanic animal traits. Therefore, material fasting is a token of the spiritual fasting.

Yes, my birthday. I was born in Feb. It was so freeing! I don’t care what the calendar says. I know how I feel and I much to give.

The comments are interesting for how little they take the question seriously. I recently picked up a book by Anthea Butler, Women in the Church of God In Christ: Making A Sanctified World. This is not a sanctimonious book. It’s about group of African-American women, not young women, who managed to negotiate considerable power for themselves and the black community they lived in by using things like cleanliness, moderation of food intake, fasting, prayer, and abstinence from alcohol, to weld together a potent power base for themselves. It’s a remarkable book and it reminds me of my aunts and their friends, Pioneer Girls, who work for Ma Bell during the depression. Growing up in the early 60’s, these women were well dressed and self confident and they had their own money. Many of them held their family together during the depression. That was also about using ‘spiritual’ behavior, holding oneself to a discipline, to achieve a goal.

Never for a spiritual reward, but I’ve given up things as a sacrifice to help me appreciate the life giving sacrifice that Christ gave for me.

Though I was raised in a Christian church, I was never taught the concept of Lent. However, it seems to be a ‘fad’ in the last few years. I do not officially participate in Lent, but I have at times done a “music” fast. Only uplifting, encouraging music - it does make a difference in my day, especially the time I spend driving! On a deeper level, most of us are slaves to something - food, shopping, busy-ness, for example. I think it is a good practice to give up something, if only for a little while, that holds more importance in our lives than it should. It never hurts to re-evaluate our priorities.

I gave up religion and have experienced the most profound spiritual reward.

My father always gives up drinking for Lent, but doesn’t see the irony in ordering a “Virgin Mary” at the restaurant and bar….

To help me discover my place in the universe, I’ve fasted in two ways. By giving up food for a period of time and also for giving up talking for a weekend. I think the silence was more enlightening.