Approaching Lent today, years from my youth, there is the tendency to say that Lent has changed. It hasn't. It remains a time of prayer, fasting and abstinence, Stations of the Cross, and (for many) daily Mass.

What has changed is the perspective with which many approach Lent. There has been a shift away from following rules set down by an "outer authority" to looking inward to pray and understand the significance of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and what it means for one's own life in a contemporary world.

The Lent of my youth was a time of specific observances. Attention was given to personal sacrifice. Denying oneself was encouraged as a worthwhile Lenten practice. Candy, ice cream or dessert in general (as well as cigarettes and alcohol) were common pleasures set aside during Lent.

There was a lot of attention paid to fasting and abstaining. Children heard parents talk about the practices and understood that when they reached the ages of 7 and 14 they were expected to follow the practices. Stations of the Cross were a Friday afternoon routine for Catholic school students.

Good Friday was spent quietly. For many years my family owned only one car, so attending church services on Good Friday was not possible. We were still expected, however, to observe Good Friday as a holy day, particularly between the hours of noon and 3 p.m. --- no radio, no television. We helped our mother clean house as a quiet activity, aware that this was a special day.

Lent, then, was a serious time culminating with a somber Holy Week that focused on the crucifixion and death of Jesus. It is still a serious time --- but it is also a time of hope and opportunity that begins in a special way with the first Sunday of Lent, and the Gospel account of Jesus going to the desert for 40 days to pray. Few of us have the freedom to go anywhere for 40 days, but we can create a small piece of a desert experience --- take some "alone time" --- each day during Lent.

For parents with young children, that might mean early in the morning or very late at night. For commuters, it could mean turning off the noise from the radio. For anyone, it could mean a morning or evening walk, perhaps accompanied by an iPod in the ear playing soft music, perhaps not. Anything that blocks out the din of the world for a period of time so reflection can take place will work.

Lent calls for creativity --- plain, light meals with the intention of removing the focus on usual ways of satisfying hunger. It could include abstaining, not necessarily from food, but perhaps from certain behaviors --- pettiness, gossip, complaining, excessive shopping, working too many long hours, being a control freak --- and choosing instead to spend time in almsgiving --- that is, giving of ourselves, our time, and our forgiveness. You never know what time spent each day sitting with Jesus in the desert may bring.

Consciously creating a desert experience each day during Lent will also mean facing demons just as Jesus did. In our case, that might mean addressing our past actions and unresolved conflicts. Facing them honestly in prayer offers an opportunity to examine our behavior, our intentions and our life's direction.

The point of this Lenten self-examination that we experience is not to be thinner because we ate less or healthier because we avoided meat, cigarettes or too much alcohol. It is to walk more closely with Jesus in his journey toward his death and resurrection, to understand how Jesus lives and is present among us today, so that we may continue to share his Good News with the world.

Anne Hansen is a member of the Camarillo Catholic community. Her e-mail address is familymail@aol.com.