Do not be sad as hypocrites – a great biblical advice for the Lent. Because the fast is not the time of sorrow! On the contrary, it is the time of the constant perception of God’s presence, openness to a dialogue with the Creator: that is, instead of choosing something that attracts me to the world, I choose a moment with God.
It is a great practice to make a specific decision for every day. As we see, in particular, from the experience of this family.
We offer a small list of “opportunities” for the Lent.
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The day of “smiles”. One or several days of fasting can be chosen as a day of smiles. What does it mean? This day a smile will be your fasting. And here it is not foreseen that we smile only to those who smile to us. No, with a smile, we accept today not only good but also unjustified criticism, reproaches, various kinds of boorish behaviour of anyone, remember that we not only temper ourselves but also glorify God.
The day of “thank you”. Today, with gratitude, I perceive everything that brings the day. Not too “positive” mood of relatives or friends, various kinds of failures, disappointments. For everything that would expect me, thank you.
The day of “ministry”. On this day all my actions, no matter where I am, are meant to “help” the person who is near. Listen, advise, warn, make coffee or have lunch. Anything – the main thing is to be useful.
The day of “peace”. On such days – it is the best to give up what is constantly scattering attention – first of all, from social networks, television, etc. That is to refuse not for the sake of the fact, but for the free time – to be with God, alone with your thoughts, to hear yourself in the noisy world.
The day of “restoration”. On this day, everything that we do helps to regenerate our spiritual or physical health. You can go in for sport, you can have spiritual conversations, you can go somewhere. Do everything that fills.
The day “I’m forgiving”. Even if there are no obvious signs of hostility with anyone, on that day, the main task is to look a bit deeper into yourself in order to analyze the smallest “bugs” that managed to hide in the heart. Offences are the too expensive burden that we can afford, it is offences that shake the inside and deprive the life of the peace it needs. And this, by the way, is a great opportunity to prepare for the Confession.
The day “I pray”. Of course, such would be all the days of a Christian. But if you want to learn deeper or longer prayers, you should pay special attention. And you can start from the smallest – without burdening yourself with long prayers, but the most important is thoughtful, sincere, lumped prayer.
You can choose these tips for every day of every week of the fasting or several days of the fasting. The main thing is that any of our actions help us to become better and closer to God, and yet – to be a joyful light for the world every day.
Author: Tetiana Trachuk
Фото: hollywoodmom
