What are you doing here? It’s Sunday, and Sundays don’t count as part of the 40 days of Lent, except when they do.

So here’s the thing: Lent remembers two different parts of Jesus’ life that were about 3 years apart. First, the period right at the start of his ministry, when he went into the wilderness for forty days and prayed and fasted right after his baptism by J the B — *and* the period three years later, leading up to his crucifixion. Both important times of preparation.

So Lent is a fast, like Jesus’ meditative fast, but generally less extreme. That’s why it’s immediately preceded by a feast: Pancake Day, or Mardi Gras, or Carnival. Some people give things up for Lent. This year I’ve given up some of my long-standing taboos about my own life, which hopefully makes me more open and honest - plus ginger biscuits.

But 40 days after Pancake Day only reaches to Palm Sunday, not Easter. The early church thought it was indecorous to fast on Sundays, because every Sunday is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection at Easter. It’s why Christians switched their Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Because Pancake Day is a Tuesday, every day of Lent that is *day 7n minus 2*, is a Sunday, it’s 46 days net or 40 days gross, or possibly vice versa. I don’t really understand economics.

But however, there are those who believe Lent should be held for 40 consecutive days including Sundays, and that Lent thus ends a week early, leaving room for an additional season called Passiontide, during which images of the cross are covered with violet cloth. But that’s weeks away.

If Sundays don’t count as part of Lent, should you still refrain from something you’ve given up, or take a mulligan? That’s up to you. If you’re using the extent of Lent to give up smoking or impulsive purchasing, i.e. things you’ve given up for practical, secular reasons, then a Sunday binge is by no means helpful. There is one feast day in Lent, which is held on March 25th for reasons you might be able to guess, but in general it’s a dour season.

Anyway, *I* don’t need to record instalments of Ben-Them on Sundays, and so I didn’t do one for today, except this one that you just listened to. One more thing I’ll say about the Lenten fast: the Swiss theologian Huldrych Zwingli, whose name is fun to say and even more fun to spell, reckonned nobody needed to give anything up for Lent, and that the church was being a real jerk and an opressor if it made us feel obliged. After all, we’re living in the age of the resurrected Christ, so every day’s a joy.

If you do want to give something up, here’s Jesus’ advice on fasting, fram Matthew 6:

‘When you fast, don’t be gloomy like the play-actors. They make their faces quite unrecognizable, so that everyone can see they’re fasting. I’m telling you the truth: they have recieved their reward in full. No, when you fast, tidy your hair and beard the way you normally do, and wash your face, so others won’t notice you’re fasting - except your father, privately. Then your father, who sees in private, will repay you’.

So there it is. Don’t wail about your admirable fasting. Don’t look like a haystack unless you normally do. Tidy up your beard if you have one. I don’t, in fact I’m mid-electro to quell stubble, though I’m still not the smoothest person...