Lent 2009

A few months ago, as I was going about my usual day, the sudden and very random thought popped into my mind that I should give up fiction for Lent this year.

Now, for those of you who know me or have read this blog even a tiny little bit, you'll know that I'm what can be accurately described as a bookworm. A voracious reader would be a slightly more sophisticated way to describe my reading habits. Namely, it is not uncommon (of course depending on the size of books and my amount of free time) for me to get through four or five books in a week. On an exceptionally high reading week...seven or eight. I am, admittedly, a speed reader. However, my retention skills are very high, so I get along quite well with all my reading. And, fortunately, I really do enjoy re-reading many books because otherwise my reading habits would cost me a fortune.

While I do read non-fiction, I generally do gravitate more naturally to fiction of all sorts. And thus, the non-fiction books I both want to and sometimes need to read get neglected at times. While I love to challenge my mind and I enjoy reading non-fiction, I find it harder to lose myself when reading non-fiction, and thus, as reading is not just a hobby but is also a way for me to escape from stress, etc, the non-fiction gets left behind.

Any ways, I kind of laughed at the idea--me, give up reading fiction for 40 days? the absurdity of the idea!--but then I began to pray about it because I felt like this idea was more than just a stray thought that had wandered across my somewhat tired and stressed brain but perhaps was a little nudge by the Holy Spirit about something I really did need to do.

After several weeks of contemplating and praying about the idea, I decided that it was something that I both could and perhaps should follow through on for Lent. Like I said earlier, I often times choose fiction over the non-fiction that I need to read. And some of these nonfiction books are ones that really could be challenging to me spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and might be bringing some very needed concepts to light that I would otherwise not be considering.

And so, starting today, I will not be reading any fiction--a decision I do not make lightly and without some trepidation. I will not, however, as my crazy husband suggested randomly upon finding out my resolution, be giving up reading completely. I have at least ten books that are currently calling my name and that I hope to make good headway on delving into.

And we will see where the Holy Spirit will take me through this.