This week: Lent Approaches Edited by: Jeff  
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"Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief."
— C.S. Lewis
About The Editor: Greetings! My name is Jeff and I'm one of the regular editors of the official Spiritual Newsletter! I've been a member of Writing.com since 2003, and have edited more than 400 newsletters across the site in that time. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me directly or submit feedback in the comment box at the bottom of this newsletter.
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Lent Approaches
Ash Wednesday will be on March 5th this year, and kick off the season of Lent (which will run from March 5, 2025 to April 17, 2025). If you're unfamiliar with the practices associated with Lent, it's a challenge for Christians to give up something important to them for the 40 days, as a way of commemorating the the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and being tempted by Satan. And while many believers, to the extent they participate at all, tend to give up something easy to minimize the inconvenience, the real intent of the challenge is to give up something meaningful, and to rely on God to get you through the challenge of being deprived of something significant to you.
One of the more meaningful things I've given up in recent years was a couple years ago when I gave up social media. With the exception of work needs, I decided not to check any social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) for the 40 days of Lent. At the time, it was a real struggle, because I definitely felt a compulsive need to check social media daily to make sure I wasn't "missing anything" that my friends might have posted. After 40 days, though, I found that I broke myself of the habit of instinctively checking social media all the time and lost that feeling of "missing out" that used to come when I didn't read every notification or scroll for hours. It was quite freeing, honestly, and I've managed to keep a similar mindset ever since, where social media is a thing to do to pass the time, or to check in on something specific, but the impulse to infinitely scroll is gone.
I know friends who have had similar experiences with "big" things they've given up as well, whether it's caffeine, alcohol, junk food, gossip, or other personal vices. And while the reason for the change in people's habits can certainly be attributed to the spiritual in some respects, it can also be attributed to the psychological in other respects. The general rule of thumb is that it takes about 21-30 days to establish a habit; which also means that it takes about 21-30 days to break a habit (assuming there aren't extenuating circumstances like addiction at play). By foregoing something for the 40 days of Lent, it's possible for you to break your habitual dependency on that thing in a significant way. And that's something that I think we can all use, whether we believe in the specific tenets of the Christian practice of Lent, or not.
I'd encourage you, whether you're a Christian or not, to consider the Lenten season (again, from March 5, 2025 to April 17, 2025) as an opportunity to spend some time and effort setting something you depend on aside. If you're a spiritual person, it's an incredible opportunity to fill that need with something greater. And even if you're not, it's still an incredible opportunity to examine your dependencies and try to break a habit you're not happy with.
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
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Feedback from "Spiritual Newsletter (January 22, 2025)" about spiritual priority:
I love to play solitaire. One has a record of each day you play. I'm on 157 straight days. A thought hits me every morning when I play the daily game. You should read your Bible as often as you dedicate to play this game. It's a hit to the heart. I' am writing a religious fiction, does that count? I don't think God would look kindly on that. I need to do better.
— Quick-Quill 
I'm a Hindu, and Hinduism doesn't actually 'prescribe' anything in particular! A priest might suggest something that one might follow, but it's not mandatory. I'm no expert, but I guess that's because of the law of Karma. What goes around, comes around. So everyone just follows their own conscience and faces the consequences of any wrongdoing.
— THANKFUL SONALI Love my family 
That’s a really wonderful way of showing one’s real priority in the sense that we all know one gets their calm from their own values and ethics but have you ever considered why is it a top priority ? Long ago people believed the wise man’s words and turned it into a religion for people who needed guidance so basically in my opinion spirituality is a kind of roadmap while you shape your own path with the kind of wisdom and empathy. I hope I made sense ( don’t know why I wrote this if it troubled you I apologise)
— Fizaaa 
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Spiritual: February 19, 2025 Issue [#12996]
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