Forty days and forty nights

"By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return."
Genesis 3:19

What is Ash Wednesday?

Wikipedia says :

'Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a sign of mourning and to God. The ashes used are typically gathered after the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned.'

It is officially the start of Lent. There are seven Sundays in Lent, the last two being Palm Sunday and Easter. Traditionally Lent is marked by fasting, praying and alms giving.

Some years we have tried to observe Lent and I have given up vices such as chocolate and soda but most of the time I just don't follow through.

Partly I think it is because I really don't take Lent seriously.

Maybe it is because, in a perverse way, I really dislike doing what the masses are doing just because someone tells them too.

Or perhaps it is because the first time I was exposed to Lent was when we were living in Germany and there was a Mardi Gras celebration on Base. It was a night of revelry, drunkenness and excess. I now believe Mardi Gras can be redeemed and isn't bad in and of itself, but it is like our philosophy when we lived in Las Vegas, enjoy the good and throw out the bad.
Then, the next day, I saw some of the friends who were drunkest and wildest with ashes on their foreheads. They didn't wipe or wash them off but left them for all to see. I had always gone to a Methodist church and had never seen this before. It was quite interesting to me.

Then, after noticing the ritual for a few years, I decided to research it and find out why some Christian denominations observed Lent.

And, through the years, I have had friends who observed lent and I could ask them questions about it. It was intriguing that some of them said they 'cheated' on their Lenten fasts and others always succeeded in keeping their fasts.

Of course, as homeschoolers, we had to try participating in Lent and have, on and off, several times. We also did a Christian passover seder, once, but that is a story for another time.

I am sure there are very devout Christians who grow in their walk with Christ by observing Lent and don't look at the observance as a work they are doing but a work that Christ is doing in them.
It is just hard for me to not look at Lent as a ritual. And when people proclaim what they are giving up for Lent it is hard for me not to think of this scripture:

"But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Matthew 6:17-18

So, I may or may not be observing Lent and, if I am, I am not going to tell you what I am fasting from.

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry." Matthew 4:1-2