Ash Wednesday this year is a special beginning. I have anticipated it for several weeks now, and it is here. Many in our church are using the book A Place at the Table—40 Days of Solidarity with the Poor by Chris Seay. Each day has a meditation, a prayer and a brief paragraph about some specific person in some specific part of the world. Already it is meaningful to me.

My plan for this Lent involves a different kind of fast. I will eat three meals a day—period. No snacking, nothing in between meals—just three meals a day. For a dedicated snacker, this is not easy. At the same time I am already aware that my three meals a day is much, much more than many people have. The person in the book that was highlighted today is from Uganda and her staple foods are corn, beans, and cassava. I realize how privileged I am when I say I will eat three meals a day.

(My three meals also include no dessert. That’s not so much a part of Lent as it is my post-cancer routine of stopping eating refined white sugar, maple syrup., etc. But that whole program can be part of another post.)

On my bedroom dresser I have a beautiful bowl filled with 2013’s Christmas cards. The other part of my plan involves taking one card each day and either calling that person or writing them a letter. I’m looking forward to that too.

So Lent has begun. I hope you have a plan too.

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