"The word 'Lent' means 'lengthen' and it's about the days getting longer. The early Church began to practice a season of preparation for those who would be baptized at Easter, and before too long other members of the Christian community joined those candidates for baptism as an act of solidarity.

"It was a season during which Christians and future Christians learned about the disciplines of the faith - prayer and study and fasting and giving alms, sharing what they have.

"But the reality is that, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere, the lengthening days were often times of famine and hunger, when people had used up their winter food stores and the spring had not yet produced more food to feed people. Acting in solidarity with those who go hungry is a piece of what it means to be a Christian. To be a follower of Jesus is to seek the healing of the whole world.

"And Lent is a time when we practice those disciplines as acts of solidarity with the broken and hungry and ill and despised parts of the world.

"I would invite you this Lent to think about your Lenten practice as an exercise in solidarity with all that is - with other human beings and with all of creation. That is most fundamentally what Jesus is about. He is about healing and restoring that broken world."

So the Presiding Bishop views the whole Lenten event as an occasion for a lecture on social justice, her favorite topic, without once mentioning the need for repentance from sin, confession and forgiveness by people in need of divine intervention for the sake of their souls.

As you enter Lent, consider how you will live in solidarity with those who are hungry, or broken, or ill in one way or another, says Jefferts Schori. Really.

Not to be outdone in the department of crazy Lenten notions, Fred Hiltz, the Anglican Primate of Canada, would like to see the imposing of ashes trashed and, in its place, the Native American practice of SMUDGING. I kid you not. Hiltz thinks churches should have a smudging ceremony every Sunday in Lent.

Smudging - the burning of various herbs and immersing oneself in the resulting smoke (doesn't sound very green does it?) - is supposed to drive out evil spirits, negative energy and balance energies. As such, the kindest thing one can say about it is that it is harmless nonsense; the unkindest, but perhaps more accurate, is that it is linked to the occult.

Hiltz writes, "While I appreciate the significance of imposing ashes at the outset of Lent, I have come to wonder if smudging might not be an equally powerful reminder of the true character of these 40 days. I wonder what the impact might be if there was a ceremony of smudging on each Sunday in Lent-at the beginning of the liturgy or at the time of confession and intention "to lead the new life following the commandments of God and walking from henceforth in his holy ways" (Invitation to Confession, Book of Common Prayer, p. 76). Smudging is a gentle sign of our deep desire to live more fully the vows made in baptism, and more fully the prayer with which we enter this holy season. You can read more here. http://www.anglicanjournal.com/articles/smudging#sthash.ezyCLirj.APIXtvkQ.dpuf

As one Anglican blogger opined, "Still, at least it proves that the Anglican New-Age Church of Canada still believes in something other than inclusion and diversity."

While some have criticized the 1979 American edition of the Prayer Book as lacking in some of the finer points of theology, it nevertheless includes a rather succinct explanation of the meaning of Lent in its Ash Wednesday liturgy.

Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.

Or this:

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

No social action, no smudging, just digging into the sewer of our lives and asking God to forgive us. That's Lent.

Lent is a season of reflection that begins on Ash Wednesday (March 5) and concludes on Easter (April 20).