Lent and Living Generously

With my current phase of deconstruction of all doctrines and traditions Christian, I'm don't understand what this whole lent malachy is fully about. We're 'preparing ourselves for easter' or we're 'fasting' and I'm just wondering what we're doing and why.

At our Ash Wednesday Sermon last night the reading was from Isaiah 58

Isaiah 58:6-10
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,

if you offer your food to the hungry and
satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.

So my 'Lenten Fast' this year. Well, I'm not quite up to the Year of Living Generously which some people have signed up for, but I'm going to go for 40 days of living generously. I'm going to try to be less consumeristic, use my car less and my feet more (which might be good for my health as well) and look to where I can be generous amoungst my friends and community. Of course, I will be continuing to eat chocolate and biscuits!

Feel free to ask me how it's going!