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By Lillian C. Smith

Let?s face it. Our lives are busy. One commercial expresses it this way, 'Life comes at you fast.'

Blackberries and Treos help us keep up with non-stop, hectic schedules. Meetings, work, sports practices and music lessons make demands on our time. That reality is true for people in and outside of the church. Even faithful Christians get caught up in life?s whirlwind.

Our busyness desensitizes us to God, causing us to lose our sense of awe. We lose an appreciation of what God has done and continues to do on our behalf. Our faith walks become routine and we just go through the motions. In our busyness it often becomes hard to hear what God is saying to us.

For people for whom ministry is life, schedules often become too busy for prayer or regular reading of the Bible unless preparing for a sermon.

If this commentary appears a bit harsh, please remember that preachers first preach to themselves. The same is true in this writing. This writer wrestles with the same reality.

Lent provides an opportunity for Christians to slow down, reflect on what God has done for all of humanity, and appreciate anew the gift of Jesus Christ. The 40-day season of Lent provides Christians of all ages with opportunities to prepare for Easter.

Derived from the Anglo-Saxon word 'lencten,' the term means spring. In the past, the season has served various purposes. Lent served as a time of preparation for baptisms and new converts.

Eventually the church used the season to commemorate the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus? 40 days of temptation by Satan in the wilderness prepared him for ministry. Similarly, our 40 days of Lent will prepare us for our ministry in the world.

Lent provides each of us with opportunities to prepare ourselves to appreciate and experience anew, the meaning of Jesus? crucifixion, death and resurrection.

This year, plan to observe a holy Lent. Intend to employ the spiritual disciplines. Intentional prayer, Bible study, fasting, journaling or even the reading of a book related to the season, are just some options.

Fasting has been one of the main spiritual disciplines used by Christians during Lent. Instead of giving up certain foods or limiting your intake of food during certain hours, fast from television viewing, for example. Instead of watching television, pray.

One Web site for young adults, MethodX, features a section related to Lent. In the article, 'Lent 101, ' Penny Ford, a United Methodist campus minister at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, offers a long list of suggestions for Lent. A few suggestions from the article are:

• Skip one meal a day and give the money to the poor.
• Spend 30 minutes a day in silence.
•  Read a chapter in the Bible each day. (My additional to this suggestion is to make this reading a time of family devotions. Please remember to read a version that is easily understood by young and old alike. Read from a Bible especially for children or youth).

Other suggestions I?ll offer are:

Read the daily meditations in The Upper Room Magazine each day during Lent. In addition to the printed magazine, the daily meditations are available on-line.

'The Image of Christ We Bear,' by James H. Ritchie, is an online Lenten study gbwc_superusere also available from The Upper Room. Visit www.upperroom.org for these and other resources.

Young Adults can join in community during the Lenten journey with others on the MethodX Web page. MethodX stands for the Way of Christ. Visit www.methodx.net for more information.

College students can download free copies of 'Survivor: The Wilderness Experience.' This Lenten devotion resource is published by Higher Education Ministries Arena, HEMA.

Through HEMA, our denomination collaborates with other Christian denominations on issues related to higher education ministries. HEMA produces Advent and Lenten devotions. To order written copies call 1-800-903-5544 or visit www.higheredmin.org to order online. (Once on the HEMA Web site, click on Available Resources and type Lenten Gbwc_superusere in the Search line.)

The '2006 Christian Home Month: Families Called to Peace' is a resource that families can use for their Lenten journey. The resource is available for downloading at www.gbod.org. Additional articles will be available at www.gbod.org/ministries/family.

This Lent give special attention to the means of grace. Engage in regular prayer, read and meditate on the scriptures; receive communion. If you haven?t already, create a special prayer space in your home.

Have a Holy Lent this season and relish God?s presence in a new way.

The Rev. Lillian Smith, a pastor in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, currently serves as Associate General Secretary for Young People Ministries with the General Board of Discipleship.