I am not your traditional penitent person. I have always had problems with Lent, the 40 days before Easter, the most joyous day in the Christian year.

I suspect my conflict began early, when growing up in Quebec it was important for the much smaller Protestants to clearly differentiate themselves from the overwhelmingly dominant, at least by numbers, Roman Catholics.

When all my friends talked about giving up this or that for Lent (usually involving candy) I kind of rebelled.

That attitude has stuck with me to this day.

But I have found a way to move forward, which I offer to you as a way to navigate the time of Lent.

If you point your web browser to the address www.40acts.org, you will discover a remarkable place which will help you refocus your thinking about Lent and give you new ways and ideas to deepen you spiritually.

The 40acts web site is a Brethren church project to put a solid theology under stewardship and giving.

They have succeeded spectactularly.

I will leave you to explore the web site yourself, but the purpose is clear. 40acts is a web site which invites us to do Lent generously. What do you do when you give up chocolate? What do you do when you turn off the TV?

40acts suggests that what Lent is intended for is to prepare you for a life of big-heartedness.

I like their point.

Let’s say that you give up chocolate or your Tim Horton coffee or Starbucks triple whatever for Lent. At the end of the week, you will have money in your pocket. 40acts suggests that you not treat that as a bonus for yourself but as an opportunity to act in generosity to others.

What would that look like?

One of the many suggestions on 40acts.org is to make yourself a "Generosity Kit". It can include anything you want, but a good beginning might be to take that found money from the coffee you didn’t buy and purchase a pair of gloves, a new pair of warm socks, a gift card for coffee or a meal, some loonies and toonies, a paperback book and a couple of pocket packs of tissues.

As you make your way through your week, give away your "Generosity Kit". And refill it. Don’t judge. Act on impulse. Give it all away.

What you will discover (because I have done this) is that generosity brings its own rewards. It can be a smile; a since "thank you". And you might find that you get to know someone you might otherwise not have met. You start building community based on generosity and trust.

Generosity is not an act of foolhardiness. Generosity builds and strengthens people. It helps make community, That is especially true of spontaneous generosity; generosity which has no rules and no restrictions.

You are probably familiar with the Clint Eastwood movie scene from "Sudden Impact" where Harry Callahan, Eastwood’s character, is in a situation where a woman is threatened by a criminal. Eastwood, pointing his own pistol at the criminal, utters the memorable lines, "Go ahead - make my day.".

But let’s redeem those lines from menace and mayhem by doing something positive in Lent. Act generously and make another person’s day. In doing so you may find that you also make your own.

I invite you to make the season of Lent not only a time for spiritual reflection but also a time to build community and be generous in your life. And perhaps you will see Lent in a more positive way than just a time of giving things up.

Rev. David Shearman is the minister of Central Westside United Church, Owen Sound and host of Faithworks on Rogers TV - Grey County