Penitential Psalms and Lent

Focusing on the Penitential Psalms during Lent draws Aaron and me to renew our minds with God's Word like a tractor beam pulls in a ship in the Star Wars movies.  This week, we've listened to Psalm 38 in J.S. Bach's "Es ist nichts Gesundes as meinem Leibe" BWV 25 and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, 1st movement (I found the score at a local antique shop!), 

and Psalm 6 in Schutz's "Ach Herr, straf mich nicht" and Desmarets' "Domine ne in furore".  One of my favorites, because of the cello solo at the beginning, is Rutter's "Out of the Deep" based on Psalm 130.  And while cooking supper one night, we listened to Allegri's "Miserere" from Psalm 51.  Olivia immediately began cackling, because she recognized this piece from a hilarious spoof.

Long before Ash Wednesday, our family began talking about ways to observe Lent and make it meaningful.  We were tossing around ideas, and when I mentioned that we could give up our weekly Friday night tradition of picking up a pound of pulled pork from Whole Hog (the only time we eat out), the girls protested loudly.  And that made it official.  We'll be forgoing our Friday night treat and using the money to bless some of the people that serve our community.  It's not a lot of money, but we will definitely feel the loss of "easy" at the end of each week.