Lent

For those of you who are new to the Church of England, you may be wondering what Lent is all about, and why we celebrate it?

In a nutshell, the season of Lent is a 40-day period (excluding Sundays) of reflection, self-denial and spiritual preparation for Easter. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and finishes on the Saturday before Easter Sunday.

The duration of 40 days recalls Jesus’ own 40 days of fasting in the wilderness as he relied upon God to sustain him, and so during the season of Lent, people often follow Jesus’ example of fasting or denying themselves something (like chocolate, caffeine, binge watching, social media …) in order to spend more time with the Lord and in deeper dependence on Him.

So, how might we make the most of Lent this year as a church family?

1. Digital Detox

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes - including you.”
Anne Lamott

Our modern world is structured around staying connected via digital devices such that the average person now spends 6 hours and 58 minutes per day on screens¹. Whilst there is much good in this digital connectivity, too much use can lead to increased stress and anxiety as we constantly monitor work emails late into the evening or doom scroll through our social media feeds. Even the bright light behind our phone or ipad keeps our brains alert, decreasing the level of a chemical called melatonin being produced, making it harder for us to fall asleep. Therefore, as Anne Lamott suggests above, taking a break from technology can be very healthy for us - not least because it frees us up to spend more time with the Lord.

I remember how life changing it was for me a couple of years ago, simply to turn off all the notifications from my phone, so I wasn’t always being interrupted or distracted by the latest text, email, whatsapp message, social media like, news alert etc, and could be more focused on what the Lord was saying to me. So, imagine how life changing it might be for us as a church family if we go on a ‘digital detox’ this Lent season.

Of course, this might not work for everyone, but if you are up for trying it out, how about picking something from one of the following 3 levels:

Level 1:

• Switch off all notifications from your phone.
• Set daily limits on technology use.
• Make your bedroom a phone free zone.

Level 2:

• Fast from all digital technology one day a week (Sunday).
• Fast from all social media for Lent (Facebook, TikTok, X, Instagram)
• Fast from all streaming platforms for Lent (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+)

Level 3:

• Go analogue! (Read a book, write a letter, journal, use a dumb phone)

Some of you have mentioned to me how you would like to try out a ‘digital detox’ but didn’t think you could do it on your own. Why not team up with someone and try it out together during Lent and see what difference it makes?

2. Lent Devotional

“Humanity shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Jesus (Matthew 4:4)

As we said above, the season of Lent is not simply about giving something up, but giving something up in order to grow in deeper dependence on the Lord. And so, the suggestion for the digital detox is not an end in itself, but so that we may spend even more time with the Lord in prayer as we listen to his word in the Bible to feed our souls and sustain us.

Some ideas for this may be to use the extra time off screens to pray for a particular Christ-like character trait, or for your friends; or to spend more time listening to the Bible or praising the Lord with your favourite worship song. And you can do this on your commute, or before you go to bed, or first thing in the morning (before reaching for your phone!).

Another suggestion would be to join us in our Lent devotional - where we are offering every member of the church family a free copy of ‘In Quietness & Trust’ by Matt Searles which you can pick up from the back of Church, or order online here. It is a 40 day devotional, specifically for Lent, which focuses on the Beatitudes at the start of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-12).

Therefore, whatever level of digital detox you may choose, hopefully this will free up time for us to spend more of it with Jesus and it all starts with our Ash Wednesday service this Wednesday 7:30-9pm in the church.

Look forward to seeing you all there and where the Lord takes each of us this Lent season!

Mark Jackson

^{1. DataReportal’s 2023 Global Digital Report}