“Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and break every yoke?”
Lent is a season of preparation, a time for taking stock of the state of our hearts prior to the remembrance of the death and resurrection of Christ at Easter. The preparation has traditionally centered on three disciplines: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, or as a Jesuit Press puts it:
Pray.
Sacrifice.
Give.
As Elizabeth noted in her post last week, sometimes we hear the most about the sacrifice during Lent—“what are you giving up?” But really the disciplines are interrelated—we pray to empower our sacrifice, we sacrifice to make possible more giving. Like God calls out through Isaiah in the above passage, “Is not the kind of fasting I have chosen; to loose the chains of injustice?” What is your sacrifice for? How can your sacrifice bring about justice for the oppressed?
In the spirit of this passage and within the Lenten tradition, what if we used this season, this time of preparation, to give materially toward fighting one form of injustice?
This would be a holy discipline that would not only connect us individually to God, but would unite us to our community of local and global neighbors, reminding us during this period that our actions impact others in the network of economic and social relationships to which all of us belong.
Below are four ideas to contemplate for Lenten giving in the time we have left before we celebrate Easter:
Donate the money you save from fasting. The most straightforward and traditional way to give financially during Lent is to keep track of the money you are spending on items you do without as part of a fast, and donate that money to an organization you support or a person who would benefit from some material support. As the desire for the object you’ve given up pushes you toward God in prayer, it also joins you to others through your giving.
Quantify your time. You might fast during Lent from habits that have consumed your time in ways you’d like to change—from television or social media, from internet surfing or workaholism. Give that time a monetary figure. What is the rate you would be paid in your profession for those hours? $10, $20, $50? Add up the hours you redirect toward other efforts during Lent and give away the “wages” they would have earned.
Study an injustice. Thoughtful giving that empowers people takes research. Some of the hours gained from foregoing specific activities could be directed to gathering information about an injustice you feel connected to, near home or in another country. Read about the closing of Boston’s Long Island homeless shelter. Check out the work that’s being done at MIT’s Poverty Action Lab. Think about where you stand on the microfinance debate.
Change your buying habits. Everything we buy links us to producers near us or far away in economic relationships. We have little choice but to participate in the economy to some extent, but we can make decisions about how we spend our money and the types of products we buy. Choose something that is a need (not a luxury item that you may have given up for Lent anyway) and consider ways to purchase that item that do not advance unjust systems and practices. Produce? Think about buying local and in season. Clothes and basic housewares? Consider used options. Use the days of Lent as an experiment in intentional and mindful buying, moving away from supporting exploitative firms and industries.
What are you giving (not giving up) for Lent?
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