words from an amateur and tools from smart people

Today is Ash Wednesday. The start of the Lenten Season. It is a season of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. I know for me I dont want to let Lent pass me by as quickly as it came. These days are so valuable in building a persons character. Really we should keep a spirit of mortification throughout the year. However Lent is a particularly beneficial time for self mortification. Out of the tiny allotment of knowledge I have, I would like to mention a bit about each "pillar" of Lent. To go along with each one, I will give you totally awesome and free resources from people much smarter than I am.

To Start off we have Fasting: In the spirit of piety, fasting is a beautiful way to strengthen our soul. Fasting helps us to deny the flesh and the love of worldly pleasures. Which can be difficult some times. There are lots of ways we can fast and learn to have mind over body. I like to think of a simple thing like taking cold showers. I hate cold showers. I feel like most everyone could agree that cold showers are really... really... torturous. Okay maybe im going a little extreme. But my body does not like cold showers. Now I think it would take a great deal of will power to get myself to take a cold shower and I dont think I could just take one without a purpose. Here is the catch we can unite our sufferings with the redemptive suffering of Christ on the cross. If we take our day to day suffering, our fasting, our self denial no matter how big or small it is and say here you go Jesus. Now if I was to take a cold shower suddenly the tables turn. My mind and soul becomes in charge I am no longer a slave to my body. Even better yet God can use my suffering. My tiny annoyance of a silly cold shower He can use for his greater glory and redemption of all sinners. Well I guess I just convinced myself to get on with those cold showers.

Here is a link to a podcast from Mathew Leonard. Give it a listen. Its a stunning 30 min to help you learn how to have a meaningful lent and not let it pass you by but transform you. http://matthewsleonard.com/?powerpress_pinw=2214-podcast

Next  up is Prayer: Prayer is vital in having a relationship with God. When you are in love with a person, you want to talk to them all the time. You spend an abundant amount of time with that person. You cant stop thinking about them wanting to know more about this person you are in love with. Basically your life revolves around this person. Same should be our relationship with God. We should fall in love with him. But first as my mom would say "communication is key" in order to have any good relationship. This is why prayer is so important in our relationship with God. We have to talk with God. We can fall in love with God and have a deeply intimate relationship with God through constant communion with him. And boy its harder than just talking about it. At first it seems particularly hard because it takes a lot of perseverance and dedication. (so here is where mortification and prayer meet dun dun duuuun). At my sweet fiancees request I am reading a book called "into the deep" By Dan Burke. I am cant help but sit in awe as I read " The God of the universe created you for the sole purpose of fulfilling this longing-- to be with you, to commune with you, to die for your sins so that you could be eternally reconciled to him and draw into a relationship of love that is more important than any relationship you will ever have in this life."

Isn't that just beautiful.

Lastly alms giving: Alms giving is something I overlook a lot of times. I'll put it aside saying I'll give when I make more money. Maybe when I am older and am more financially secure. But gee wiz I have too many excuses. I only just learned the necessity of why it is direly important to give and be generous. In another podcast from Mathew Leonard, he explains how so many times Jesus uses a parallel between debaters to sinners, God to creditors. In a the most simplistic way I can think to say it, God forgives us of our sins as we forgive those who trespass against us. Right? Just as in the prayer he taught, the Our Father. Just as so God has given us great abundant blessings, life itself is a blessing and we often time fall short we sin. So not only is it good to give back to God through alms giving it is a dire need to give back to God. Because we have fallen short! It's a life or death matter. In the Bible, in the book of Mark 10 17-27, a rich man approaches Jesus and says, " good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life" to which Jesus Replies and says " Go sell what you have, give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me" at that the man went away sad. Jesus then turns and says to his disciples, " how hard it is for those that have riches. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter into heaven."  My oh my does Jesus have some bold things to say about giving and living. Now here is a different tone, the other day I was shown a post on Instagram with a caption that blew me away. It was on a Instagram post by neekmason. She writes "At the end of the day it is not about money, what you can't afford, what you would've done if you had this or that, if you had "that job", but rather how you spent your time, what you paid attention too, and how much you loved. Whenever I start getting stressed about money or things, I start giving them away. I pay for someone else's meal when I feel like I can't even afford mine. I never like the feeling that something so silly could measure my worth or someone else's. It's the times I've had the least that I've given the most, and it's the times that I remembered to notice the little things that I look back on and never want to forget." Hearing her caption had me going woah. Yet thinking to myself that what she said was a desirable lifestyle. Giving even though you feel like you already have nothing.  I realized how close this caption on Instagram really embodies how generosity should be looked at. Yeah it's a struggle but once again it's a form of denying ourselves what we want to make a sacrifice for others. That is how God wants us to live. With a generous heart and not enslaved to our riches.

Here is Mathew Leonard's podcasts on almsgiving
Part 1 http://matthewsleonard.com/?powerpress_pinw=1517-podcast
Part 2 http://matthewsleonard.com/?powerpress_pinw=1531-podcast

Neekmason Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neekmason/?hl=en

If you are interester in learning how to pray and going deeper into a relationship with God, here is the book my fiancée requested I read. https://dynamiccatholic.com/into-the-deep-hardcover

An InLinkz Link-up

Spending five minutes in front of God

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          Read. Dont think about the past. Read very slowly. Dont worry about the future it will come. Pay attention. Focus on right now. Read one sentence at a time. Relax. Notice your breathing. In...Out...In...Out... Breathe Slowly. In... follow it down your windpipe let it fill your lungs. Feel them expand. Out... this is what keeps you alive. your air, your breath. In... Although sometimes you don't even notice it is there. Just like God. Out... Sometimes we forget don't notice he is there but he always is. In... breathe. Breathe slowly. Picture you are in a church, and it is dark. Not a cold dark, but a warm, comfortable dark. you feel very safe. You are sitting in a church. Now in your mind look up. You look up and you see the tabernacle. And out of the tabernacle comes Jesus. In your mind look at him. What does he look like? what do his clothes look like? What does his hair look like? What color is it? What does his skin look like? What color is it? Is it rough or soft looking? Does he have facial hair or is he clean shaven? Jesus is walking towards you and he sits down right in front of you. He looks into your eyes. What color are his eyes? Do you see your reflection in his eyes? Jesus is sitting in front of you. Now think of that sin, that one you cant stand yourself for. That bad thing you did. The one you always think of when you are feeling guilty about yourself. That sin that you're always asking yourself why did I do that, how could I do that. place your hands together in front of you, as if cupping them together to hold water, and put that sin in your hands. Now take all your sins from your whole life and put those in there too. Think of a time when you were most happy. Think of what makes you happy. Think of a time when you were sad, when a loved one passed away. and put those in your hands. Take all your past put that in there and take all your future, all future anxieties, worries, and plans and put that in your hands. Now take this moment. The moment you are in right now and put that in your hands... and give it all to Jesus. Say here lord, here Jesus, take all that I am, all the Joy, all the sad, all the sin, all my past, all my future, my life is yours. And Jesus looks at you, and smiles, he smiles at you with so much joy and love. He loves you so much more than you can ever love yourself. Jesus pulls you close and holds you to his heart. Now dont say anything, listen to his heart beat... With every beat he says I love you, he holds you and he says I love you, I love you, I love you. Jesus has cleansed you by his blood and died so that you might be able to attain eternal life and be happy with him forever in heaven. He died for you because he cannot even imagine ever being without you.

A Short Story Written by Morgan Erickson

           Man was driving to work one day when he stopped to introduce himself to a stranger. The stranger called himself Death and Death offered to take him on a journey. Man agreed to go with Death and was told to go secure his home for while he was gone traveling. So Man set off. He decided he didn't want to travel alone with Death, and he thought it would be more of an adventure if he could travel with some of his friends as well. So Man went to Companions. Man asked Companions to go traveling with him saying, "My friend Companions shall you go with me on a great adventure?" Companions replied, "why of course! My dream is to go with you everywhere!" Then Man told Companions, "I have met someone who's name is Death, he too we shall travel with." At this Companions disappeared... So Man went to Family and said to him, "Come with me you have known me since I first came to be" and Family replied only too willing, "we will follow you and be with you forever." Then Man told Family, "good early in the morning I will show you Death, who we will travel with." At this Family was gone... The man feeling forlorn turned to his close friends Pleasure and Treasure. Great were their size and Man asked longingly for them to go with him on his journey with Death, to only see them turn to dust. Man walked through the park trying to remember anyone who might go with him, but nobody would come to mind. While walking and thinking and lost in thought man bumped into Knowledge. Man had not seen Knowledge in a while and he was pleased to see his elderly appearance once again. Man desperately pleaded with Knowledge to come with him on his journey, and Knowledge said, he would... but only if Man could convince his most important friend to go also. Man intimidated by the proposal went with Knowledge to where this friend lived. Knowledge called to his friend when they arrived, "hello Charity!" Man looked at the young boy sitting on the curb with his friend as they shared their lunch and then Man looked at the woman cradling her new child, her husband holding her close and combing her hair. Man glanced over to see a son holding his sick mothers hand and Man watched as two kneeled to be one and he saw... Man took a deep breath and walked straight up to Love, and Man asked Love if she would come with him and death... and Love said yes. Man looking around finally happy picked up Love's small friends; Humility, Compassion, Gentleness, Temperance, who cried out to Man with their willingness to go. Man carried Knowledge on his back and he set forth, holding tight onto Love's Hand, Man walked side by side with Faith and Hope to Death.
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By Morgan Erickson