Chocolate for Lent by Hilary Brand
Week One
Giving Up—The Prelude to Change
To Start Your Reflection
I love chocolate. Dark and bitter, rich and creamy, lemon creams, mint thins, caramels, truffles, pralines, profiteroles, Mars bars,
I am appalled to see this statement in print, but I gathered up my courage and put it here for a good reason. I want to make an honest admission that, where food is concerned, I am very bad indeed at giving up. Or, put another way, where diets and exercise arc concerned, I am very good at giving up!
I am telling you this to explain that, wonderful as chocolate is, for me it can quite genuinely become an addiction. I know that food is the first thing I turn to when I am stressed, and that the wrong sort of food makes me sluggish and slobbish.
I am all too aware that because there is more of me than there ought to be, in other aspects there is perhaps less of me than there could be. I know that when I eat less and exercise more, I have more energy to put into my life. I know that unless I shed a few pounds, I will never be able to see the sunrise from the top of
I begin this way to show you one reason at least why Chocolat's seductive celebration of “if it feels good, do it” needs to be seen with a somewhat critical eye.
The film’s philosophy of indulging yourself, enjoying life, and learning to be yourself very much taps into the “spirit of our age.” Now, there are some very healthy aspects to all of those things. All the same, my knowledge of the Christian faith leads me to wonder whether we should jettison self-denial that easily. It is all too easy to accept the “feel good” message of a movie without thinking. Perhaps we should first explore whether the idea of “giving something up for Lent”—be it chocolate, wine, television, or sex—is valid. Is it even Christian?
Origins of Lent
The name “Lent” comes from the Saxon word Lenctetid, used for the month of March and signifying spring-time and the lengthening of days. The idea of a fast before Easter, however, goes way back before Christianity reached the Saxons, to the first centuries of the Church. It seems to have sprung up spontaneously, albeit only practiced for 40 HOURS before Easter at first.
The earliest known reference to a forty-DAY fast was in 325 A.D. as one of the “canons” (church rules) arising from the Council of Nicaea, where church leaders from all of the then-Christian world met to thrash out a mutual understanding of what they believed. It became common practice that for forty days only one meal a day was eaten, with no meat or fish.
The forty, days, of course, is an echo of Christ’s time of fasting in the wilderness. But Christ never commanded his followers to fast, and neither did the apostles. (Jesus did recognize it as a common practice, however, saying “when you fast” rather than “if you fast” in Matthew
So why did the practice arise? The main reason seems to be that in the early Church, baptisms only happened once a year, at Easter. Lent was instituted as a preparation for Baptism—the public initiation into the Christian faith—and for those who wanted to renew their baptismal commitment.
Christ’s fast in the wilderness had a purpose. It was a preparation for a major change in His life: the beginning of a ministry that would change the face of history. When Christ called His followers to give anything up, that too was in order to set them free to follow a new direction. “Giving up” was so they might be radically changed—and that their change would then change their world. In the first centuries of Christendom, Lent was a time of “giving up” as preparation for a major life change.
Personal Reflection
Note: This is an exercise in imagination; there are no right or wrong answers.
These questions will be discussed during the group encounter.
Read Matthew 4: 1-11, 18-22.
What would have happened if Jesus had not withdrawn to the desert and been tempted for forty days before he began his ministry?
What would have happened if Peter and Andrew, James and John had not given up the security of their employment and followed Jesus?
As well as pondering the above, if you have time, read the following scripture passage and reflect on the following question:
Read Mark 10:17-27.
What might have happened if the rich young had given away everything that he owned and embarked on a new life?
What may have happened to him if he did not?