As today is Shrove Tuesday I thought I should decide what to do for Lent. I don’t like to simply do the same things each year. After prayerful consideration, this is my decision:
- Abstain from biscuits, cake and desserts (other than fresh fruit)
- Spend an hour at around mid-day with prayer and reflection including using my prayer and art journal and the Church of England’s #Live Lent reflections.
- Look out for people to sponsor or give donations to and be generous.
I started off with an hour of prayer at mid-day today to pray through this decision. It felt right. I also wanted to do something artistic with the prayer I had written as part of the Word for 2021 – “Jesus, my soul’s love, hold my hand”. I had been uncertain whether to have the prayer as: “Jesus, lover of my soul, hold me.” It is supposed to be 7 words. I had the second of those already written on a journal page. However, I then wrote the first one out in green pen. I decided to stick with that and decorate it. In order to cover up the writing I no longer wanted, I searched for things to use to make it a multi-media piece. The cloud is from a practice piece of sky and the brown strips are from a piece where I had just used up left over paint to create something abstract. I knew that if I kept them they would be useful.
I’m quite pleased with the result. So, look out for my Lenten Lunch-time journey through Lent. It may be like the Advent doodle a day or I may end up spending more than one day on a picture. I am open to either, but like the idea of a different picture each day. Doing the picture at mid-day means that it can dry and I can add any finishing touches late afternoon before blogging.
My prayer for us all is that as we journey through Lent, Jesus will be there with us, holding our hands as we traverse the highways and byways of life – through the sunshine and muddy bits. What are you doing for Lent?
Elizabeth Jones' Diary 