What’s Lent Got To Do With It? – Day One

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first Day of Lent.  All across the Globe, folks are participating in the season of Lent by attending special church services and, in all likelihood, “giving up something for Lent”.  Traditionally, this requires some sort of fasting activity, and its purpose is to bring to mind Jesus’ forty days of fasting while roaming in the wilderness just prior to beginning his ministry; as well as to join us in solidarity with him as we recall that Jesus, too, was continually tempted by evil during this time and other times in his life.  Just as Jesus relied on his Father to deliver him from those periods of trial; so we, too, must rely on God to give us strength in our own struggles.  Obviously, this is something we should do every single day of our lives, but the Lenten period serves as a yearly, focused reminder that we’re probably failing miserably in this regard and need to get back on track.  Is it any wonder, too, that the beginning of this period is the day after Mardi Gras; arguably one of the most self-indulgent days of the year for many?

Frankly, for most of us, making the connection between giving up something for a month and a half to trusting in God is a stretch.  For many, this can turn into a silly, if not pointless activity.  “How can giving up (fill in the blank) bring me closer to God?”  

Good question, and one which I believe can be answered by “It depends on whether you take it seriously” and “It depends on what you give up”.

I’ve only recently returned to this practice of fasting.  I remember half-heartedly going through the motions when I was a teenager but I’m almost certain I never made it through Lent without eating a chocolate bar or chewing a piece of bubble gum or arguing with my mother.  This is not to say that young people today cannot take Lent seriously; I just wasn’t ready to do so when I was 16 years old.  Heck, I wasn’t ready to take anything seriously when I was 16 years old.  In later years, I never remotely considered attempting a fast during Lent because nothing to do with God or Jesus or religion or anything at all of that nature was on my radar screen.  In the spring of 2012, I was finally ready to take it seriously.  WHY that was the case is another long story covered elsewhere in this Blog (see He'll Meet You Wherever You Are )

I don’t think I need to spend much time explaining what I think taking something seriously means, but just to cover that base for a moment;  if I am going to do something; to commit myself to a person, a relationship, a vocation, an activity, an event; I always ponder long and hard before I do so.  Perhaps not everyone does this to the degree I do, however, I have to believe that most people have at least one or two areas in their lives that they are quite serious about and very committed to.  If you can’t wrap your mind around the seriousness of participating in fasting for Lent, I’m not sure you should even bother to attempt it.  In my opinion, someone going through the motions without any true desire to grow from the experience risks hypocrisy.

Taking it seriously, then, should lead a person to give up something meaningful.  So, what should it be?  There are plenty of folks that use this period of time to commit to giving up a bad habit, and I personally think that’s just fine because it’s an excellent opportunity to be reminded how we should rely on God to see us through the challenges and the temptations.  And, as an added bonus, if a person can successfully eliminate whatever the bad habit or behavior is during this forty or so days, they've made big strides and will probably be able to maintain this success after Lent is over.  They will also be in good company with others during this time, a huge, ready-made support group, who will also be struggling through their own particular trials.  Yes, sometimes misery does love AND NEED company. 

But what about those who may not have an obvious bad habit or behavior? There is a story in the Bible about a rich young man who, upon hearing about all of the wonderful things Jesus was teaching and doing and also observing the band of Disciples surrounding Jesus who were both  following him and learning from him; approached Jesus and asked what he had to do to get in on this game, to get into the Kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus initially told him “the basics”; love God, obey the commandments and the laws.  The young man was really happy and pleased with himself because he was already doing all of this.  But Jesus went on.  “Sell all of your possession, give the money to the poor and follow me”.  Oops.  Not what the young man wanted to hear, so he walked away, feeling sad and sorry for himself.  My reason for bringing up this story is that Jesus looks into each of our hearts and sees what we need to give up in order to truly follow him.  Circling back to us giving up something for Lent, it could be something different every year or perhaps the same darn thing that  remains a stumbling block in our faith-walk.  Whatever the case, there is something for everyone.

My guess is, after prayerful consideration and perhaps some nudges from the Holy Spirit, you may already have a pretty good idea of what it should be.  Remember.  It’s not something simple, just ask the rich young man.   If you find yourself toying with the idea of giving up something you don’t even do in the first place (in my case that would be watching T.V.) or something you don’t have any sort of problem not doing (for me that would be smoking) or some activity you are already not doing due to your life circumstance (in my husband’s case that would be sleeping because he’s a CPA and it’s tax season), then I suggest you circle back to the “take it seriously” part before proceeding any further.

Mrs. B

Up Next:  Give and Take

No Boozie

I recently returned to the church (I dislike the term "born again") and elected to participate in the fasting aspect of Lent.  Actually, I did so last year as well.  

Without getting overly complicated, the idea behind Lent  is to first give up something for forty-six days  that will be a sacrifice and/or difficult for you; this to be in solidarity with Jesus as he wandered around 40 days fasting, and, when he was at his weakest, managed to overcome the temptations Satan was throwing at him left and right (well, three to be exact).  So, yes, it is supposed to be tough.  

In the years between my youth (when I was asked to give up things such as candy, watching T.V. or going to the mall) and now, I've run into adults participating in this fasting aspect of Lent who have given up everything from red meat, sweets, coffee, alcohol, cigarettes/cigars, watching T.V., buying anything not deemed necessary to getting up an hour earlier each morning, not playing video/computer/phone games, staying off Facebook -- well, the list goes on and on and is limited only by folks' weak spots (or creative manipulation).

Last year, I gave up Facebook.  I took some crap for that from a few people, both on the "That's not a true sacrifice!" side and the group that proclaimed they couldn't stand not seeing my brilliant posts every day and please don't ever do that again.  Well, maybe it wasn't what some would consider a true sacrifice, but, since it's how I tend to communicate with roughly 75% of the people I know plus how I entertain myself, it really was tough.  But, more to the point, it played well with the other aspect of giving something up, which is, you are supposed to replace that activity (or vice) with something, well, good.  For example, if one gives up an hour of sleep, they should spend that hour in prayer or reading the Bible or doing something for someone else.  If someone eliminates their daily latte at Starbucks, they should give the money they would have spent to a worthy charity.  

If you're interested in my last year's Lenten experience and what I learned, you can read my Blog entry by clicking HERE.

The bottom line is, I survived the no Facebook thing fairly easily and I did manage to spend a lot of that time doing much more productive things.  Around December, I began thinking about giving up booze for Lent this year.  Honestly, there were several reasons for this but not the least (and the most important) being, I knew it would be tough because, not only is it an embedded habit (hat tip to my Father for pointing that out) in my pretty much daily routine, it's also something I enjoy; not because I want to get pie-eyed (oh those days are long gone) but because I truly prefer alcoholic drinks taste wise to just about anything else (with coffee running a close second).  Also, drinking is a very social activity; my husband and I have a cocktail just about every night around 6 (later during tax season) and discuss the events of the day and many other things.  We might share a nice bottle of wine with a good meal (and, c'mon folks, who doesn't have a grand time sipping on a glass of wine while preparing dinner?)  Then there's the lunches with my mom where we gab over a glass of wine.  Or, beers with my Father sitting out on the lanai solving all the problems of the world. Or dinner out with  friends.  Etc.  You get the drift, I hope; I knew that I would really be giving up something that I enjoy in many, many ways.  

And, yes, maybe I enjoy it just a bit too much.  There's that aspect of it as well.  I recall a conversation I had with a doctor friend of mine once when he told me that, technically speaking, a person cannot be considered sober if they've had even one drink a day.  He asked me then, "When was the last time you were sober?"  Given those parameters, it'd been some time.  Oops.  I asked myself that same question last December and came up with the same "oops".  So, I suppose my rationale for selecting abstinence from alcohol is spiritually, emotionally and physically oriented (as a side-benefit, I can't help losing some weight).

So, long story short, I'm on day six of the forty-six and so far it hasn't been too bad.  It is because I began mentally preparing back in December?  It it because I told a lot of people I planned on doing this so I wouldn't back out?  It is because it's tax season and I'm fairly busy doing other things?  Is it  because I can see how many calories I'm saving every day by not drinking anything?    It is because there is an end in sight (honestly, though, I would like to see myself come out of this with better habits going forward)? Is it because I've made this commitment to God and I don't want to fail him?  Or, is it because God is helping me out by easing the temptation? 

Of course, I still have 40 days to go so I'm not resting on my laurels but I'm feeling pretty good about this.  In addition to the (hopeful) weight loss, here are some additional benefits I've noticed:

1.  I can actually stay awake long enough to read at night and I am 

     sleeping better.

2.  I don't have to wash out the martini glasses every night (Mr. B

     gave up his nightly martini).

3.  We're saving money (and, yes, I will do a calculation at the end

     of Lent to determine how much and will donate it to church or 

     a charity).

4.  I can happily and gladly serve as a D.D.

5.  I feel justified in indulging in a bit of chocolate every night.

6.  I'm having fun coming up with interesting non-alcoholic 

     drink concoctions. 

7.  I'm realizing I don't really need it; which is freeing.  There is

     certainly a big difference between having to have something

     and being able to walk away from it without too much trouble.

In all honesty, I think giving up coffee may have been harder.  Hmmm....maybe that's what's in store for 2014.

Mrs. B