What is Lent? and... What images make you think of this season?
116441
Please check the web sites I'm giving u ... You asked 4 my imagination, so you'll have to judge weather or not it's appropriate to use my imagination!!!\n\nLent is a season for penance and to welcome members from other churches.  Practicing Catholics strive for fasting, prayer, and almsgiving.  It is a 40 days long and we celebrate six holidays in lent <Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter> … so it’s more obscure than Christmas'manger.  \n\nPurple <Priest prefer Violet> is the color of Lent…it’s very symbolic and represents penance.  Although Purple isn’t the first thing Catholics think of in Lent, you will see it is a color used often…it’s almost a sub-conscious way to remind Catholics to practice their penance.\n\n1.  Ash Wednesday … “Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust” … We goto church and the Priest takes ashes <from the last years burnt Palms> and makes a “Cross” on our forehead.  We wear this Cross all day.  \nImagrey that pops into my mind is a fireplace <purifying> \n\n2. During Lent…the theme is fasting, prayer, and almsgiving … So, I imagine a spiritual workout trying to get fit … giving up stuff that is bad for me so I’ll be a beter person <little kid studying> … prayer <image a little kid in nightgown kneeling by foot of bed with hands joined to gether in prayer>  … almsgiving <image a little kid giving a poor person a hug … or feeding birds … >. \n\nThis is also the time Jesus was in the desert … so I imagine a desert with an oasis … people flocking to the oasis through the desert and facing scary stuff like snakes, volchures,  all to get the the safty of the oaisi in the horizon.\n\n3. Palm Sunday - Very strong Image of Jesus with a donkey … large crowds spliting like the red sea placing palms <leaves from palm tree’s> on the ground so Jesus doesn’t have to walk on dirt.\n\n4. Holy Thursday - “Last Super” … I imagine DiVinci’s painting, the “Last Super” .\n\n5.  Good Friday -  All church decorations are taken out for this holy day!!! She is left baren.\nA.  Image of a parish passing around a full size <70-100 lbs> cross over their heads … \nB.  An image of  “The curtain temple being torn in two” <MT 27:50-51>  <similar to the scean in the Wizard of OZ when doggie Toto pulles back the curtain to revel the wizard>    \nC. White room < I used to play this psychological game with my buddies, and I’d ask them to describe a white room… when they shared that with me, I knew how they felt about death … since this is the day Jesus died, I guess I tie death and my white room to it.>\n\n6.  Easter - Cross , Easter Lilyies,  abundance of flowers, beautiful smells, white, pure, new. Family, forgivness, hope, faith.
1180711
My favorite season is winter because everyone seems so at peace in the wintertime. I also love winter because of the Holidays that come around. I love it!! My second preferred season is Spring. I love looking at all the flowers getting ready to bloom again. It is a really beautiful sight. Its like you can feel nature starting to stir back to life again after the winter snow, and the weather has damaged the earth. Its really something to look at. I love the Fall too, only because I know that winter is not too far behind it.
392628
Yes. I have asked my pastor and friends to share their ideas after answering questions. There have been concepts covered here that I had not thought of before. It has served as a tool that has deepened my understanding and fortified my faith. My church is open to all questions, and we discuss whatever is on our minds on Wednesday nights, so the reaction has been as it always is, very welcoming and non-judgemental. A topic that I am currently mulling over is the concept of hell - whether it is the eternal burning and torture most think it is, or if it is obliteration by being thrown into the lake of fire. I'm leaning towards the latter lately as I have found nothing that indicates that hell is eternal torture.
1168111
It's still against tradition to eat red meat on Fridays during Lent.\n\nI doubt something that small would doom anyone to hell. I don't think God really cares about the small things, but about the goodness of your soul.
361512
Formally, yes.  \n\nBut for personal and/or spiritual reasons, if you choose to follow Catholic practices common to the Lenten season -- self sacrifice, examination of conscience, and so on -- then no, you don't have to be Catholic.  \n\nAs long as you're doing these thing to draw closer to God, or to increase your awareness of Him in your life, then I think it's great that you do these things, even if you're not formally Catholic.
529721
The thing I try to remember is there are some who come into our lives for a season, others, who come into our lives for a lifetime, and others who will leave eternal footprints on our hearts. \nMoral of the story:\nEach person who comes into your life is there for a reason. They have come, sent by god, to teach us something that we need to learn. Whether it's something new or something about ourselves. There are no coincidences.
693952
Something to look forward to I guess, like winter is cold and dark and depressing, but hey, Jesus was born and we get to have lots of parties and presents and do family stuff that although you say you hate it, it's pretty fun!\nAs it's for RE, I'd say that it makes a community, or a country, or a religion, feel united in their joy (or sadness for Easter).  We also celebrate to remind us, would we even know half these facts if we didn't celebrate them each year?  It's also an excuse to show people we care about them when celebrating birthdays and anniversaries and stuff.  Lots of reason!
379829
I have trouble seeing them too..lol I thought it was just me.Someone bought me a calender,with a different image for Me to get a head ache over each month.lol
1093430
reflection or shadow!!
884546
"Doesn't it seem like a huge puzzle?" \nYes, it does.\n\nI love the history channel, \nthey had this really cool program on about halloween, Christians and Pagans. \n\nI bet they'll have one for Christmas too, I can't wait.\nI can't believe how many ppl don't know how Christmas came to be !
147139
Autumn is actually the more common name for this season worldwide, and comes from a french word, which derives from a Latin word, and that apparently from an Etruscan word. \n\nFall is more common in North American English now, although it used to be more common in general English. It comes from a shortening of the expressions "fall of the year" and  "fall of the leaf", as one might expect.\n\nWinter comes originally from Scanadanavian words for the season, and possibly is connected to the words for "water" and "white". \n\nSpring is a shortening of the expression "spring of the leaf" to describe the season a few hundred years ago. Before that, in English it was called Lent. \n\nSummer probably originally comes from the Sanskrit word for half year.
229570
At the gym where I work out, I was speaking to a woman I know there.  She's Baptist and she mentioned spoke of preparing for Ash Wednesday and Lent and such.  \n\nI don't know what denomination of Baptist she is, so maybe whether Baptists celebrate Lent depends on the type of Baptist they are.
1054455
selah..\n\n\nwow.  something to ponder.\n\nthanks.\n\nBlessings...
806534
statues and kitsch\nlike this;     http://www.pirromount.com/jesus/commercials.html
571766
People want Christ to look like them, so they can relate. I don't know what He really looked like, but I think when we see Him again, everyone will recognize him. Since the Bible says we are made in the image of God, perhaps we will each see God the way we want.
92417
Ash Wednesday, today, is the beginning of the Catholic religious season of Lent.  Lent is a time period where most Catholics choose something to give up (often sweets, dessert, porn, gambling) that they tend to indulge in.  It is a period of 40 days when Catholics remember the 40 days Jesus fasted in the desert and his ultimate sacrifice at the end of Lent, Good Friday.  Marti Gras (french for Fat Tuesday) has traditionally become the time for celebration as a last big fling before Lent arrives and people try to restrict themselves more.  Also, during Lent, Catholics are supposed to avoid meat other than fish on fridays.  On Ash Wednesday, Catholics go to a church service during which the entire congregation processes up to have the priest place ashes on their forehead as a reminder that "of dust we were made and to dust we shall return" and our own mortalities.
38089
Lent starts on Wed (of course), March 1st.