Is Lent an addiction?

I think I have what Mark had last weekend...headache, cough, general yuckiness. So I have been resting all day. Doing sudoku. I watched the rest of Weeds, season 5. It seems to continue to take a turn for the worst with every episode. I know it's not edifying substance to feast my brain on, but it is like, well, addicting.

And that's a thought I have been pondering over the past few days. I really do have an addictive personality. A friend of mine was talking about what to give up for lent. Me? What of the many vices do I even want to consider? She had nothing, 'cept maybe coffee and chocolate, but even that was not a big deal.

















So rather than guilt myself for failing to actually give up something, I'm not committing to anything. My desperate prayers to Him - are to be real in my faith....to live out what I believe He has gifted me to be.

So during this season of Lent, I will focus on confession to Him and His faithfulness to me by reading Psalm 51:

Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.

For I was born a sinner -
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.
Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me -
now let me rejoice.
Don't keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
Don not banish me from your presence,
and don't take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and make me willing to obey you.
Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.
Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that my mouth may praise you.
You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.