CoolPeopleCare®

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 is 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, and 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 abstained? This is precisely the invitation CoolPeopleCare is offering faith communities this Lent.

The ideas in each of our 5 Minutes of Caring features are simple, doable and in participation with God's kingdom in our world. We want to invite churches and faith communities to sign up for the daily email here and then covenant together to make their Lenten discipline the completion of each 5 Minutes of Caring challenge to the best of our abilities. There will be new opportunity everyday, Monday through Friday during Lent, and we will take Saturday and Sunday as catch-up and feast days. We encourage communities to make online websites or blogs where participants can share their success, blessings and failures with each other. Email your site to us and we'll add it to this page so we each see who else is trying to live this way across the country.