Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Lenten Devotion for March 10


To Keep a True Lent
by Robert Herrick, 1648

Is this a fast, to keep
   The larder lean?
      And clean
From fat of veals and sheep?

Is it to quit the dish
   Of flesh, yet still
      To fill
The platter high with fish?1

Is it to fast an hour,
   Or ragg’d go,
      Or show
A down-cast look and sour?

No: ’tis a Fast to dole
   Thy sheaf of wheat
      And meat
Unto the hungry soul.

It is to fast from strife
   And old debate,
      And hate;
To circumcise thy life.2

To show a heart grief-rent;
   To starve thy sin,
      Not bin;3
And that’s to keep thy Lent.


1 “flesh” – many Christians fast from meat on Fridays during Lent, but still eat fish
2 Circumcision is a biblical metaphor for spiritual conversion  
3 “bin” – container for storing food.


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