10 years ago (during my junior year in college) I fasted from "music with a beat" during Lent. I rarely spent a moment alone in silence, turning on my stereo each time I returned to my dorm room or got into my car. I wondered if I weren’t clouding out the voice of God or ruining moments ripe for reflection by blaring my techno-pop and 80s/90s alternative music at every opportunity. So, during Lent that year I refrained from all my favorite music – New Order, The Cure, U2, Erasure, The Smiths, Depeche Mode, etc. – and any music rock, pop, techno or alternative music. I essentially limited myself to chant and classical (of which I owned only about three CDs). To my surprise, the experience was marvellous and reoriented me towards God, vocation and faith in daily life.
And so, 10 years later, I will be fasting from blogging. I find myself turning on my computer at odd hours of the evening or early morning to blog, rather than tend to prayer, house chores, work, or simple relaxation (vocations which rank higher than blogging). I wonder if my blogging hasn’t become something like my music of 10 years ago, a way to distract myself from God’s presence or from intentional reflection on faith, vocation or life.
Yet, Sundays during the season of Lent are Sundays in Lent (not of Lent). Even in Lent, we catch a glimpse of the resurrection each Sunday as we gather around the table and celebrate the liturgy. And so in the tradition of Lenten disciplines, I will break my Lenten fast on Sundays and probably get online for a little bit of blogging. But for the rest of the Lenten season, I will be practicing a Blog Silence.
The Lutheran Zephyr 