Why Lent?

A good friend of mine asked me on Facebook yesterday why I observe Lent. The question is a natural one for biblically conscious Christians who rightly desire a scriptural grounding for all aspects of Christian practice. My response to my friend was probably the most in-depth written treatment I've ever attempted of how I've come to understand the spiritual reasoning behind Lent in the Orthodox tradition, so I figured it was worth cross-posting here at my blog. To set this up, my friend had posted a general question to her Facebook followers about why any among them observe Lent. I commented saying that I would try to find her a concise Orthodox treatment of the question, since some others who commented had gone down the road of "anti-religion" proof-texting. But she countered that she wanted to know why I personally found Lent to be valuable. Why do I personally observe it? This was my response, cleaned up slightly for this more formal platform. 

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