Although I believe that the Lord can make us new each day, in reality I know that most people don’t think like I do. But on Ash Wednesday it’s different! As Lent begins, many people take the time to examine their lives and look for ways to deepen them.

As an Anglican priest for many years I see people often trying to accomplish this through various disciplines. For most (in my experience) some sort of sacrifice or deprivation seems to be the ticket. Generally however, the goals they set often are too lofty or even downright unreasonable, and they lead to frustration and even failure rather than affecting real and lasting change. And, as these people “fall off the horse” it often becomes too much to continue on with the discipline. This of course produces defeatism……exactly the opposite of what we want to accomplish in Lent.

I recommend something you really want to change, or that you know you need to change, but not something so difficult that you will never accomplish it. Pick something doable and workable, but also challenging. And if you fall off the horse, get stuck, or even have a setback…don’t worry! Remember change can be hard, and if it isn’t a challenge you probably have set the bar way too low!

Last year on Ash Wednesday my wife Amanda and I committed to writing a daily email devotion, which though intended just for Lent, went through most of last year. We were mailing it out to a lot of people when a catastophic computer crash sent it, and our entire mailing list into cyberspace. Being a bit of a comic, I also kept up a humorous blog on Yahoo for about a year and a half, but they were shutting down the site. I felt I needed to do something else.

Here, I intend to do all three, though I am pretty sure this blog cannot be emailed! But as part of my disciplne, I hope to post something here every few days, if not daily. We will also link it to our website http://www.indianaanglican.com/

My friends, I am thankful to have this space and hope that you find it appealing. There is so much out there that I, as an orthodox priest, have the need to address……but for now, let’s just call this a new beginning and one of my disciplines for Lent.

My hope and prayer for you is that you will celebrate a Holy Lent, and that the product of it will be healthy change at the end for us all!

Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Fr. Tom+