Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent and the traditional 40 days of preparation as Christians across the world get ready to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.

Today, many people will attend Ash Wednesday services to begin their period of prayer and receive a cross of ashes on the forehead accompanied by a serious reminder of our fate,

“Remember, thou art dust and to dust thou shall return.”

For many, Lent will mean a time of prayer and fasting, and the traditional practice of giving up some favorite food or activity they usually enjoy the rest of the year.

But there are other ways to observe Lent.

This year, instead of giving up that addiction to chocolate, or ice cream, or that favorite beverage, channel those efforts as sacrifice into helping someone else.

At Christmas, people are all too glad to help out non-profit and charitable organizations in keeping with the season of giving. But those same organizations and the people they help are still with us at Lent. Their needs are just as great as they were in December, and the opportunity is still available — they still need help.

This Lenten season, take the money that would normally go toward that super rich designer chocolate or that overly indulgent meal at a local restaurant and give it to an organization to help someone else, like the Salvation Army or United Way.

Or volunteer. In many cases, your time to help a non-profit agency or a local school is just as valuable as any financial contribution you could give, and its effect could go a lot further in the community than a few dollars.

We in the south are noted for our desire to help the less fortunate and working to make life better for our communities either by donations to community agencies that help others or by volunteering to help those same agencies. And Lent, like the Christmas season and other times, is a good opportunity to continue that practice of community involvement.

And we have a good example to follow. Jesus gave his life to save us.

We should consider that.