Lenten reading list via The Anchoress

The Anchoress posts a string of links for Lenten reflection, her picks from the Catholic Carnival, hosted at Doxology blog.
There is so much there I could sit here at the screen for the rest of the morning and never finish reading, but not reading it is worse. What to do, what to do!?...Book mark, blog it and keep moving. Plan to go back to it ASAP with more time to sit still and know...

Pope John Paul II has said we have a disordered idea of freedom. Many of us think freedom is doing what we want to do without anyone telling us otherwise. Others understand that freedom is gift from God and while we could do what we want, there are others to consider and that our actions have consequences, whether for ourselves or for other people. Most of us seesaw between these two ideas all the time - we don't intend to hurt those we love (or even those we don't know!) but it happens. We get full of ourselves and our abilities and say "I want" or "I deserve" an awful lot. Sometimes we say "I need" and mean it, but most times when we say "I need" we really should be saying "I don't really need it but I want it". We are barraged at every turn with advertising that tells us we don't have enough. That what we have isn't good enough. That who we're with isn't the right one. That even if you're married, you should be able to have what you want and still be married - for those unfortunate times when monagamy becomes monotony. And the list goes on and on and on... is there a way to embrace and live the Christian faith and survive in this world where "freedom" keeps taunting us to want more?

LINK

Lent is to Roman Catholics what water is to a fish. The rest of Christendom could take a lesson.
I also like what Athanasius says about lent...Fasting is optional, like heaven.
(He's Byzantine, not Roman, if that makes any difference. I think most Christians appreciate content over the form in this case.)