Giving It Up
Ash Wednesday is on 14th February 2024
by Brian Radcliffe
Suitable for Whole School (Sec)
Aims
To explore our understanding of the season of Lent.
Preparation and materials
- None required.
Assembly
- Ask the students the following questions.
- Do we find it easy to admit when we are wrong?
- Can we admit our faults, failings and regrets?
Pause to allow time for thought. - Explain that it is doubtful that any of us can honestly answer ‘Yes’ to these questions. When we’ve made a mistake, caused hurt, lied or chosen not to do something, we’re probably more likely to protest our innocence, lie even more or duck out of sight. The problem is that none of those reactions makes us feel any better about the matter.
- Explain that today could be good news for us all! Today’s the day when we can all be open and honest, admit our guilt and walk into tomorrow with a clear conscience. Today, 14 February, is Ash Wednesday.
On this day, traditionally, Christians admit their fallibility by using wood ash to mark their foreheads with the sign of the cross. It takes some courage to do this, to admit that we’ve got things wrong in our lives and show a little humility. However, when everyone else is doing the same, it puts life in perspective, acknowledging that we are all fallible human beings. It’s also a symbol that we are willing to make a new start. - Ash Wednesday takes place just over six weeks before Easter Sunday and marks the start of Lent. This is a period when Christians think about the sacrifices that Jesus made during the 40 days that he spent in the desert, where he fasted and was tempted three times by the devil.
To remind themselves of the sacrifices that Jesus made, it’s traditional for Christians to make a small, regular sacrifice of their own during Lent. They usually choose to do this by giving up a luxury (chocolate is a common example) or by volunteering their time to help with a charitable activity.
Time for reflection
Psychologists tell us that it’s easier to ask people to make a sacrifice if they can see that there’s some benefit to be gained from doing so, especially if the gain is personal. Self-interest is a great motivator! So, what sacrifices might we be willing to make and what might the benefits be? Let’s start with ourselves and work outwards.
Let’s think about one way in which we’d like to improve ourselves over the next six weeks. It may be to do with appearance, fitness, understanding, achievement or some other aspect. What sacrifice might make it easier to achieve that improvement? We’re back to chocolate again for some of us, although there are many other unhealthy options. Our sacrifice might involve the hard work of doing something that we find difficult, like exercise. It might be reducing the contact that we have with some people.
Moving out from ourselves, how might our family benefit from us making a small sacrifice? An obvious one for some of us would be to sacrifice a little screen time and use that time to make a contribution to being present with other family members. This might be to do something useful, but it might just as easily be to chat and, most importantly, listen.
What about our community? The sacrifice of a portion of our free time for six weeks might have an enormous effect if it was used in some voluntary capacity. There are lonely elderly people to befriend and children to play with, there is litter to pick and shopping to collect . . . and that’s just the start.
What about the wider world? We live in times when we’re encouraged to live for the benefit of the planet. How about using the next six weeks to explore what it’s like to be selective in what we eat, how we travel and how much energy we consume at home?
So, what are the benefits of giving up something? Some are obvious, particularly if we become fitter and healthier, gain more knowledge and end up with a wider range of friends. A greater benefit could also be our satisfaction in knowing that we’ve achieved something. We’ve set a target and reached it. We may be mentally stronger and prepared to act differently in the future. We might also see that our family, our community and the planet are improved because of what we’ve done through our little acts of kindness. And remember, it’s not for ever, just for six weeks . . . although we may end up preferring things this way.
Song/music
‘With a little help from my friends’ by the Beatles, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C58ttB2-Qg (2.44 minutes long)
Extension activities
Invite the students to select an area of their life where they’d be willing to make a sacrifice.
Next, encourage them to choose another student to whom they will be accountable. Each pair of students can reveal to each other the sacrifice that they will make and promise that once a day, they will ask one another how they are getting on.
If the students are successful, they should be praised each day. However, if they have lapsed, they should not be criticized, but rather, encouraged to get it right the next day.
