Lent doesn’t always have to be doom and gloom, with devotion and “giving something up”, it can be filled with happiness.
St Paul’s Cathedral, Dundee escaped from Lent yesterday (we sang Alleluia in the recessional hymn! *) as it was the Institution and Installation of the Reverend Lindsay McKenna as Rector and Provost of the Cathedral and you could feel it.
As much as I am enjoying Lent and how it is helping me, I was glad for the reprieve. What I want to pass onto you is something the Reverend Philip North** said in his sermon. “Generosity is not about how much you give, it is a measure of how much you hold back, in this God is extremely generous as He holds nothing back”. Personally I think the greatest proof of this is that He gave His only Son to be born a human, live life on this earth and endure all the hardships that he encountered, culminated on Good friday when he died on a cross like a criminal for your sins and mine. Mind blowing.
That, my friends, is being unreservedly generous.
How can we be more generous during Lent?
* "In accordance with Canon 22 of the Scottish Episcopal Church the Bishop is authorising the Cathedral as a place of liturgical experiment and renewal." ** Administrator: The Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham ** Administrator: The Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham
Beauty from Chaos 
Do you know the “Year of living generously” project? It’s at http://generous.org.uk/ and has been going for well over a year… so perhaps generosity is addictive? I signed the Bookers up for this and we try to add to our actions now and again and have taken on some new commitments, but I still find myself resistant to stepping out of my generosity comfort zone. Hmmmm.
I think it’s that stepping out of our own generosity comfort zone that is what holds people back.