And so to a post I meant to write nearly two weeks ago, or three weeks ago now, when Lent started and I began my challenge.

Lent is a good season for starting things, for giving up bad habits and embarking on good ones. I know many people who aren’t absolutely Christians who do something for Lent simply because *that’s what you do*, and I quite like that. It’s a hang over from the days when most people would assign themselves to one denomination or another, and when the build up to Easter was not marked, as it is now, by the piles of eggs that increase weekly after Christmas to a discounted crescendo on Easter Saturday but by the anticipation of said chocolate egg after a period of doing without. Even hot cross buns, which have lined the bakery department shelves since the end of January, had to be waited for and gathered in the brief week before Easter and only until the Friday after.

I’m on a strict diet for the sake of my health, so giving anything up foodwise wasn’t an option for me, or at least wasn’t an act I would be undertaking in addition to what I was doing anyway, so I looked at the other options for acts that people generally undertake at Lent.

Christians are called to participate in fasting, prayer and charitable works or giving during Lent. Since food fasting wasn’t a viable option, I looked at what I could do to boost the other two.

I’m a bad Christian in so many ways, in that I struggle with prayer. I’m not organised enough to put it first in my diary, so sometimes it gets added on as an afterthought which I’m sure is not how it should be. I read John Mark Comer’s The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry just after Christmas, and he was very keen on the idea of a Rule of Life, of rhythms of prayer and study elevated to rituals with a little thought. I set my phone, therefore, to set off an alarm at three hour intervals throughout the day. I even found a free mp3 of church bells to ring, which adds a note of interest when it goes off! The bells ring at 9, 12, 4, 7 and 11 and are labelled quite traditionally Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline. It’s like being a monk or a nun without the worry of wearing navy or brown all the time.

Each bell has its own area of concern: at 9 in the morning I offer up my work. At 4pm, I cease work (usefully, that’s my usual time anyway) and offer up a prayer for rest and awareness of the limitations of my human life. Compline, bedtime, is a time to look back over the day. I’m not on my knees, I’m not even spending hours talking to God, but at least I’m pausing in my busy life and spending some time reflecting. I know several non-Christians who also like having fixed pauses in their life. It’s good to stop, step aside, and breathe.

Charity, I believe, is a very personal issue, so I’m not advertising that beyond saying extra tins and packets for the local foodbank are easy to do, so that brought me back (in my circular brain) to fasting again.

Like I say, my diet is pared to the bone at the moment, so there is no luxury to forego, but I have in past years used Lent to give up other pleasurable pursuits. Time, again, to do that.

You know I love reading, that I read almost non-stop, and that chick lit (choc-lit) is a favourite of mine? Well, instead of giving up chocolate for Lent, I gave up choc-lit and any other fiction or non-fiction except for books by C S Lewis.

It is my experience that sometimes a name of a person, a place or an object appears in your life and for some time afterwards you see it or meet it everywhere you go. The books Amazon throws up into your recommended pile are by the person, articles about the place appear in your newsfeed, even Twitter or Instagram start putting the object of what could easily become obsession in front of you. That’s me and Clive Staples Lewis since Christmas.

Of course, I’ve read all his Narnia novels several times since childhood (for about 10 years I read all of them annually) and a couple of his non-fiction works as part of an Alpha course almost 20 years ago(! That long!) but I’d never ploughed through any of his essays, sermons or longer apologetics, despite my Mum telling me I should.

I have, therefore, challenged myself to Lent With Lewis. I’m reading only Lewis or biographies of Lewis, until Easter, with a short reading list as a start and a longer one if I need it.

What’s that I hear you say? Which books am I aiming to read? Glad you asked! Here are my #LentWithLewis starter for ten:

• The Chronicles Of Narnia has to be there. I’ve read The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe again already, and I’ll read the others, or listen to the excellent BBC radio adaptation, before Easter.
• Mere Christianity. This was the one I read for Alpha in the early 2000. I have read this one slowly, savouring the writing and marking up passages as I go. I like how certain sentences in it echo the familiar writing from Narnia. Either she is lying, or she’s mad or she is telling the truth is pretty identical to what Lewis says about Jesus. So, yes, Jack, I’m with you. Jesus is the Son of God as he claims to be.
• The Space Trilogy is a set of three novels I never even knew C S Lewis had written. I’m reading Out of the Silent Planet at the moment, then I’ll read Perelandra and That Hideous Strength. What I will say is the main character talks exactly as one would expect a Cambridge scholar to, with plenty of Oh, I say and Dashed. A little like the Narnia children, but adults. I don’t mind, I quite like the idea of 1930’s Dons getting kidnapped and discovering exciting new worlds. It’s like Agatha Christie with Aliens.
• Reflections on the Psalms was recommended to me by someone I have forgotten the name of. Shame. I have found great wisdom and often words to express what I’m feeling personally when personal words have escaped me in the psalms. I’m looking forward to seeing what Lewis made of them.
• A Grief Observed may not be one I make it to this year, having been warned that it is very moving and meaningful especially if one is going through grief oneself. It may possibly sit in my Kindle and wait.
• Live Like a Narnia by Joe Rigney is a book I have already read. I like how it looked at the virtues and characteristics of a good life, by which I mean one well-lived, rather than replete with riches and good things to eat, throughout the seven chronicles. It looks at, for instance, how Lewis puts across his distruct of science without faith, how he expresses the virtues of courage, the need for faith and the Biblical messages of resurrection and restitution in stories that are, let’s face it, usually seen by the world as ‘just for kids’.
• C S Lewis: A Life by Alistair McGrath. I like knowing what an author’s life was like. Sometimes you read about their childhood or marriage and get an idea of why they are so batshit crazy. I’ve listened to a few of Alistair McGrath’s pocasts and enjoyed them, so this seemed like a good book to read on Lewis himself. And so far it has been.

Lent ends at the end of March, so I’m hoping to have finished a few of these at least. My reading has been slowed by illness and sheer exhaustion when I get to bed, so I possibly need to shake it up a little. Perhaps it’s time to reinstate my pot of tea an dhalf an hour read when I get home. Perhaps I should (now the weather is pleasant) drive down to the park or the prom and pull in for a short session. I’ll think about it.

Do you do anything for Lent, whether you’re Christian or not? Is there another time when you find yourself making healthy adjustments of mind or body? Is it something you’d ever think of doing? Limiting my reading is a good test of willpower. And, yes, it is typical that as I set myself the challenge at least 3 good books were recommended. Thank God for Goodreads!

How to Hygge the British Way is my gift to the world. I don’t get paid for writing it, I’m not in it for the kudos, financial rewards, to become an influencer, work with brands or otherwise make any money from the blog. That’s why there are no ads, and any products I mention and recommend have either been gifted to me or bought by me with my everyday wages or donations from supporters. Every book I review has been bought and read by me, unless stated otherwise.

I do get a couple of pennies each time someone buys from the Amazon links on my page, as an Amazon Affiliate, but otherwise if you’d like to support me, I like to give something back in return. That’s why I write books. It always feels good if you get a book back in return for some money. You can find a full list of my books at my Author’s Page on Amazon, but especially recommended for this time of year are:

Cosy Happy Hygge: Setting up a rhythm to life and rituals to enjoy it to make for a more balanced life that handles waves and storms better. Lent is a season of rituals and resets. The book has small and easy ways to make your life flow with grace and happiness, which lead to more hygge.

Happier: Probably my most personal book, it’s the story of how I used hygge and the little things in life to help boost my happiness. I still go back and reread to remind myself what I need to do to be a happy human. And it’s always the little things.

Is it too early to think ahead? My Christmas books are always available: Have Yourself a Happy Hygge Christmas is a good place to start, on how to make the season cosier, happier. Celebrating a Contagious Christmas was written during covid year, but has useful advice on celebrating when times are hard anyway and Enjoying a Self-Care Christmas is a short e-book on keeping Christmas simpler, easier and better for you, your waistline and your budget. It even includes 25+ suggestions for self-care activities over Christmas, as simple as sipping tea, keeping a list journal or lighting a candle. Bigger is not always better for Christmas.

I’m currently working on two book projects: I have a hankering to rewrite 50 Ways to Hygge the British Way, so it’s not available at the moment, but even dearer to my heart and my next stated aim is to finish and publish my next book, Simple Plus Cosy = Hygge. It will be about homemaking and how the home we create shapes the hygge we have. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of summer/autumn/winter 2024 or 2025.

If you’d like to support me, but don’t want to buy a book, I have a Paypal.Me account as Hygge Jem. Every little helps, so even a few pence goes towards the books, goods and courses I use and recommend on the site. I’m grateful for every little bit that brings me closer to my dream of full-time writing, and I know I couldn’t still be writing if it weren’t for the support of many readers and friends out there. Thank you all for every little bit of support, emotional, physical and financial, you give me.

If you’ve enjoyed this article, don’t forget to share it or save it so others can enjoy reading, thinking about and living hygge as well.

The photo between post and promotions is by Debby Hudson on Unsplash. Red tulips, ready to add a dash of Spring to my life. What better?