Lent is for Baptists too

Lest you think that we are concentrating too much on what our Catholic friends have to say, here is a link, "Lent for Baptists," to an opinion piece in the Associated Baptist Press giving reasons why our Baptist friends might also want to be more serious about Lent. Follow the link to read the article.  It gives a brief history of Lent and then asks "Why is Lent relevant for Baptists?"

One of the reasons given is that "... we need to live in community with the larger body of Christ. Since the vast majority of Christians practice some form of Lenten observance, joining them in some way is a good step toward solidarity of faith and ministry. This is also an important witness to others, answering Jesus' prayer, "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me" (John 17:23)."

Here is our theme of "communion" again, expressed above as "solidarity." John Paul II often liked to use the word "solidarity" to characterize relationships in the body of Christ.  Remember the Solidarity labor movement in John Paul's native Poland that stood in resistance to Soviet power in the 1980's?

I am also mindful that Lent also has to do with our bodies--how do we treat them? The traditional practice of fasting in Lent forces us to consider the connection between the things we do to our bodies and how we live our lives.  Do we have anything to repent of with respect to how we treat our bodies?  Is this not something we all should be concerned about?

(Thanks to Kendal Harmon's TitusOneNine blog for the link).