What would Lent look like if we acted instead of abstained? Could we make the world a better place in the next liturgical season? Join with us and members of your local community as we begin our second annual proactive take on the Lenten season.

Lent is a season in the life of the church where the community takes on a posture of penitence and self-reflection.

The invitation in many liturgies on February 6 (Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent) will be for the gathered people to observe, "A holy lent." This is a great phrase for two reasons.

First, it makes clear that Lent is an invitation - not an obligation. We have to participate in the festival and its rituals freely because they are not magic nor are they formative outside of our contribution. Lent is a matter of real participation.

Second, it reminds us that Lent is a holy season. Holiness here is not a moral distinction, rather, it refers to otherness, difference and being "set apart." A holy Lent, then, invites us to take up disciplines, observances and practices that will be different than, albeit shaping of, our normal lives. It is a holy time.

This is why we may have impressions of Lenten disciplines that involve some kind of personal sacrifice (weekly fasting, no chocolate, giving up television). These sacrificial disciplines mark the season as one of formation and give the community a sacramental reminder that suffering in the way of Jesus is transformational.

However, what if one’s Lenten discipline did not involve an inward, personal sacrifice but an outward communal one instead? What if instead of giving up something personal, people took on something together. What if we acted instead of abstaining? This is precisely the invitation that we want to offer you or your faith community this Lent.

As many of you know, one of CPC's features is a daily email where subscribers get an email that inviting them into "5 Minutes Of Caring" (5MOC). These five-minute challenges involve everything from recycling an old cell phone, to using less water when showering to making a new friend. The ideas are simple, do able and in participation with God's kingdom in our world. They would make great Lenten disciplines.

So, we want to invite churches and faith communities to sign up for this email and then covenant together to make their Lenten discipline the completion of each of the "5 Minutes of Caring" challenges to the best of their abilities. There will be new opportunity everyday, Monday through Friday in Lent and we will take Saturday and Sunday as catch-up and feast days. We encourage communities to make online website or blogs where participants can share their successes, blessings and failures with each other. Email your site to us and we'll add you to the page so we can all see who else is trying to live this way for Lent across the country.

Peace, and have a Holy Lent.

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