Giving it Up

Content

The idea of 'giving something up for Lent' is widely known and discussed today - yet how many know that the ancient discipline of the Lenten fast had several purposes? It was designed as a reminder of our daily dependence on God for all our needs, to draw us closer to God in prayer, to reconnect with the idea of community, and to help us follow Christ's journey through the wilderness and on to Jerusalem. How many of us simply abstain from some treat or other for a few weeks and fail to engage with this deeper meaning of Lent?

This book shows how Lent can be a time for exploring a different kind of 'giving up', one that can transform our lives. If we are to draw closer to God, we have to be willing to give up some of our entrenched ideas about him, in order to see him more clearly. In a series of daily studies, Maggi Dawn shows how, throughout Scripture, people were radically changed by encountering the true God. If we follow their examples, we can allow the Holy Spirit to shed his light on our ideas of God that are too harsh, too small, too fragile, or too stern. Then God will graciously reveal himself to us and bring us to an Easter joy that is richer and more profound than ever before.

Contents include:

• Introduction
• Section 1: Giving up (Ash Wednesday to Saturday)
• Section 2: Jesus in the wilderness and beyond (First week of Lent)
• Section 3: Other wildernesses (Second week of Lent)
• Section 4: Changing perceptions (Third week of Lent)
• Section 5: Changing communities (Fourth week of Lent)
• Section 6: Changing your mind (Fifth week of Lent)
• Sections 7: 'The end of all our exploring' (Holy Week)
• Easter Sunday

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Author info

Maggi Dawn is an Anglican priest, currently Chaplain and Fellow of Robinson College, Cambridge, where she teaches theology. She has contributed to Guidelines and has written several hymns and worship songs. She has also written Beginnings and Endings, the 2007 BRF Advent book.

• View other titles by Maggi Dawn

Reviews

From The Good Bookstall - February 2010

Many people will give something up for Lent, chocolate, cakes, coffee, alcohol or some other treat. Some even go vegetarian for Lent. Many people though, even in the Church, see this as a time for dieting rather than the traditional time of preparation for Easter. In Giving It Up Maggie Dawn takes us afresh through the Easter story and challenges us to give up more than chocolate and to think about what we are giving up. In a time of recession there are things we could give up that cost little but are of tremendous value, by calling us to think in these terms Maggie Dawn helps us rediscover the heart of Lent and the message of Easter.

Book details

• ISBN: 9781841016801
• Published: 20 November 2009
• Status:
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 224