Day 346 — Ash Wednesday!

It's hard to believe another year has gone by and it's Ash Wednesday again. And I'm glad you are considering this Lenten experiment.

For anyone just joining in, here's the low down — the skinny, the way this thing roles, the meat and potatoes. Instead of giving up chocolate, or wine (Lord, no way!!!) or Diet Coke, or whatever it is you adore, commit yourself to a little PSS. 

No, not PMS..

or PTSD... 

or the PTA.

PSS. Prayer. Scripture. Silence. 

Aim to make daily time in your routine for a little sit down with the day's daily office, some quiet and some prayerful direction. During that prayer time, go big — be bold. Say, "God, I am ready to get to work today — YOUR work. I'm ready to be your gloves. I'm ready for you to use this bag-o-bones to help somebody else out today. Help me to forget about my own needs, because I'm sure you have me covered. Today I'm your servant. Help me be last."

Then get ready.

You won't ever enter a room or a meeting or a carpool line or a grocery store the same way again. Get settled in your front row seat to watch the good stuff that will unfold before your eyes. When your focus turns from "how I look or feel" coming into an experience to "how is God going to use me to bolster somebody else" in this experience, it's actually pretty incredible.

Incredible — but harder than you might think to execute. The me's have a strong hold — at they are deeply rooted in my experience. It's been more than a year of daily deeding, and thinking about others before I think of myself still feels unnatural. But it's a worthy exercise to try, I think. A good mantra to use is "It's not about me! It's not about me!" Or "Put me last! Put me last!" Or better yet, "Lord, use me to bless someone. Use me! Use me!" Or, the always effective, "It's 5 o'clock somewhere, Lord!" Cheers!

I'm here to tell you, this habit does not just kick in. It's takes constant, and I mean constant, reminding. And everyday still I fall into the me's — and by the end of the day, I often wondering what the hell I did for someone else during the day. Thankfully, there's always a Facebook birthday to acknowledge or Girl Scout cookies to buy or a Take-A-Penny-Share -A-Penny bowl to help fulfill the One-Deed-A-Day Challenge.

Also to note: finding time for PSS ain't easy. I gitterdun in the wee morning hours, usually before I run. If I don't, my day takes hold and it's hard to circle back. Try to make time — whether it's in the carpool line, or when you're waiting to checkout at Publix or when you're sitting at your desk planning your day. And boy howdy do I know that the quiet time is the trickiest thing of all to maneuver. But it is an important component. Maybe it's when you're walking outside to get the paper. Maybe it's 10 seconds between your last gulp of coffee and your walk to the car. Seize the quiet moments, however short they are.

One last reminder: A deed does not have to be earth-shattering, or life-changing or huge in any way. You should not pursue what you think is an A+ in deeding. You may experience some biggins. But chances are, your deeds will be small and seemingly insignificant. It may be leaving an extra $1 tip in the tips jar at the local smoothie store. It may be letting another car turn during traffic. It could be a thank you note, or an email of encouragement or a prayer for a stranger. Not sure what a deed is? Follow your gut and your heart. Through them, God gives you nudges. You'll feel encouraged to act on a thought. You'll have a nagging urge to do something you wouldn't ordinarily do. Listen to the nudges, even if they push you toward something that is way out of your comfort zone. Don't rationalize or over-engineer or study your way out of not doing it. Just do it. Even if it feels so weird or embarrassing. Even if someone gives you a dirty look. As long as it's legal, go for it! Just do it!

Still need ideas? Along the right side of the blog are some websites with good ideas for helping others. I think I called it a Tool Box. Check it out. And if you want affirmation that there are deeding angels all around us, all over the world — turn on the news. Read the newspaper. Be a news junkie like yours truly! It's not all doom and gloom in the media. There's a lot of it, to be sure. But if you look closely, you'll see examples everywhere of people stepping up with deeds large and small. Angels? I think so.

So join in! Get your PSS on and see what kinds of deeds emerge during Lent 2012. Share how it's going on this blog if you like! If it's anything like my experience last year, you'll look back and see how many blessings came your way by making a habit of daily deeding.

Now that we're through all that, let's get started.

Below is the daily "format" of the blogging. As I mentioned yesterday, most of the blogging that has occurred since last Lent has been more in the form of LOGGING. I've been logging scripture (from the Forward Day by Day, the Episcopal church's daily lectionary readings), my favie faves from that day's reading, and an account of what deed I managed to eek out. Recently, I started adding a line called "Deedsclosure," which includes some of observations about deeding that I've noticed throughout the year. Usually, I'll fill in the scripture and scripture standout in the morning as I'm having my morning quiet time, and type in the Day's Deed and Deedsclosure before bedtime. That's the way it goes down, in case anyone's curious.

Here we go...

Scripture: Ps 103; Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12; 2 Corinthians 5:20b—6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Scripture standout: Ps 103: "¹³ As a father has compassion on his children, 

   so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; 
¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed, 
   he remembers that we are dust."

2 Corinthians: " ³ We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. ⁴ Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; ⁵ in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; ⁶ in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; ⁷ in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; ⁸through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; ⁹ known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;¹⁰ sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."

His Deed/The Day: I let an elderly driver make a left hand turn in the Winn-Dixie parking lot when I had the right-of-way. I really felt like I'd scored big time — helping an old lady cross the street! That's the kind of stuff Boy Scouts get to do!

Just as I was about to scratch deeding off today's list, another one flew onto my radar. I called a guy back who left a message on my work voicemail. He could not have been a bigger a**. He launched in to me about how he'd been calling the office all day, and NO ONE had returned his call and blah, blah, blah, yuckity yuck yuck yuck. He wanted back issues. He wanted a reprint. Then he wanted to express his annoyance about not being called back. He called me Suzanne. Oi vey! I could feel my ears getting red, especially over the name mispronunciation.

I reminded myself this was Ash Wednesday. It's a time of forgiveness, right? Instead of getting my sass on, I said a short prayer for him. I encouraged myself to feel bad for him. All this guy wanted was the reprint of a story — about a friend of his who'd died. He and his wife (who'd helped him hang up phones as he moved from room to room in his house while letting me have it) might have been really distraught over this loss. They probably didn't have much going on if they spent 20 minutes of this beautiful Ash Wednesday harumphing at me — for something I don't handle! It felt better to consider things that way. Perhaps today's deed was not following my instinct and hanging up on him. 

Deedsclosure: The best deeds come from a nudge, or a nag that says, "Just do it."