Lent: Fasting from Driving my Car

Lent: the 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday (March 9, 2011) to Holy Saturday (April 23, 2011) before Easter Sunday, a period of fasting, prayer, and alms giving. The six Sundays during the Lenten season are Sabbath Celebrations during which the fast is broken in anticipation of Easter.

Lent is a new concept to me over the past few years and I've only observed it once before that I can recall. (During that year I focused on the alms giving aspect and identified 6 non-profit organizations that I could serve each week of Lent.) This year I felt compelled in prayer to participate in the fasting experience of Lent. As I prayed about it I felt God calling me to fast from driving my car. This calling was reiterated in several forms, including a Runner's World article about 'running errands', a book about the sacredness of walking, even the rising price of gas.

Ultimately though, the idea of giving up my car has been in my head for years. I strongly desired to live a pedestrian life, in a "walkable" neighborhood (one where the shops and entertainment are within a few miles of home). For the past 7 years I've lived more than 8 miles from the heart of my city. When I had the chance to relocate, "walkability" was top of the list for finding a home.

For the first few weeks of moving back into the heart of the city I walked to work and found local shops and hangouts. I was home! Then I got lazy. It was my laziness that I hoped this lenten experience would shake me out of and return me to a pedestrian life.

I had a few hurdles to overcome as I anticipated this fast, the greatest of these being my pride and my need to be in control. Somehow I had developed a critical spirit towards those who sit at bus stops. I ignorantly judged them to be less or lower than me because I had achieved enough in life to own and drive my own vehicle. (I am humiliated to admit this publicly! This is one of the uglier sides of me that I despise.) In recognizing this attitude I knew that God wanted me to extend my fast from simply walking wherever I could, to committing to take public transportation within the city of Phoenix. I sensed that God wanted this fast to limit my driving only for going out of town and serving others.

I knew this use of public transportation would be a serious test of my patience. The last time I rode a bus was freshman year of high school. I had to stop wearing a watch that year because I would sit on the bus and stress about getting to school late. Depending on the public transit system to get me places would send me back to that place of stress at being out of control.

Finally, I submitted to fasting from my car as I considered God's vision for our church family, to live God's love in the heart of our city. Spending time on foot in my neighborhood would introduce me to sights, sounds, smells, and touches that I completely miss as I drive to and from work every day. I would interact with strangers. I would see my city from a new perspective, a perspective that Jesus chose when he walked on earth, literally walking.

And that's how this lenten experience began. Fasting from driving my car, committing to walking, running or using public transportation Monday through Saturday, and celebrating the power of the Resurrection on Sundays as I drive to worship.

Over the next few days or weeks I hope to reflect on this experience. I already posted a blog on the Joshua Collective about the prayer aspect of my lenten experience. I have also been posting the mileage of my wanderings about town on Daily Mile (see widget on the left). But for now I am heading to a Good Friday service to set the stage for the weekend and anticipate Easter.

I can tell you this: I am so excited to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Sunday!