So, I didn’t give anything up for Lent. Or, I haven’t, or I’m not giving up anything for Lent. Is Lent still going on? When is it over? Is it over already? And why is it that everyone else seems to know exactly when Lent starts, what it’s about, and when it’s over—except for me? I know you give something up. And I know it should be something you like. For instance, I doubt it would count if I gave up, say, cleaning the bathrooms. I’m just guessing here. I mean, maybe that totally works, and in which case I might actually consider finding out what Lent’s all about. (No, I’m just kidding. That would be gross.)
I’m sure there’s a lovely, poetic, and deeply spiritual reason behind Lent. But, frankly, whenever I hear the word, the first thought that comes to mind is, the other day when I was cleaning the cat box outside (spring cleaning for the cats!), I noticed that some fuzz was coming out of the little vent that connects to our dryer, and I wondered if that was a fire hazard. I mean, really, I clean the lint trap with every load—why is it coming out the other end? Should I be worried? Wait, something about giving something up? Oh. Yeah. That.
And, you know, I go to church, my husband works for a church for crying out loud, I volunteer at church, I tithe. You’d expect I should know about Lent. Oooh, look! I defy expectations! Oh, wait, that’s only good when you exceed expectations isn’t it?
I thought tonight, maybe I should investigate this Lent business. Seems like a learning experience or something. Growth, right? But then, I thought, I’d have to give something up. And that’s the main problem I have with Lent. That, and no one ever told me the point. So, I give something up. Then what? I think everyone should give up some money for Lent. We could fix Haiti and save Congo and stop human trafficking. I don’t really care that so-and-so from Wichita is giving up chocolate. Who does that help exactly? Right—so-and-so from Wichita. Maybe Lent should be something we’re always doing. Shouldn’t we always be giving something up for the betterment of others? Maybe the problem is that we only think about sacrifice roughly once a year, and even then it doesn’t seem to produce anything worthwhile.
Okay, I’ve just angered most of my friends and a whole host of strangers. Who are all probably very sincere and fabulous in their observance of Lent. Reference previous statement about “lovely, poetic, and deeply spiritual.” My hat’s off to you. You’re all better people than I am, much more self-denying and monastic in a way I can only admire from a distance. I mean that. I’m much too lazy to go about investigating Lent in a meaningful way, and secretly I’m sure that I’m threatened by people who are able to give up something they love for any length of time. I once didn’t have ice cream for forty days, and I nearly died. True story. (Well.) So, whenever Lent is over, you can go back to chocolate or cleaning bathrooms, and you’ll have gained something lovely, poetic, and deeply spiritual, and I’ll still be in the dark, a little bewildered and feeling like there’s a boat I’m missing. But, it’s all good. I’ve got chocolate-covered gummy bears to console me.
11 Comments
Lent is supposed to be representative of the 40 days in which Christ fasted in the desert. It seems to be most fiercely observed by the Catholics, and I originally thought it was from Catholicism that it originated, but that may not be right.
This is probably harsh and untrue, but it always seems that for the majority of people – those whose churches don’t “celebrate” lent and even those who do – the purpose of it is overlooked and it becomes a 40-day battle that proves will power or serves as a great diet plan. I don’t often hear people come out of the experience amazed and reconnected with Christ. Though perhaps that’s not the purpose of it at all. I may speak out of ignorance.
And, well, chocolate-covered gummy bears? I’ve never heard of those before.
I do love regular gummy bears, though…
Marianne got me hooked on them in college–she always called them “muddy bears.” If you find good ones, the bears are still nice and soft. Delish! The ones I have now are a little too chewy, but chewy muddy bears are better than no muddy bears.
Chocolate-covered gummy bears sounds like a good study snack to me.
Also, I’ve always assumed that the observance of Lent originated with Catholicism, since Christianity was also initially organized by the Catholic Church. Lent always starts on Ash Wednesday, which is the day after Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday)–a moral holiday (aka day to binge on a wide variety of vices). Traditionally, Catholics give up meat during Lent and fast except for one meal a day. Obviously, those ideals have become more lax over time. As I understand it, the guidelines of observation shifted so that only meat was given up, but fasting was not required. Also, historically some Irish Catholic clans were excused from fasting because of the famine they’d experienced. Eventually, I believe the contemporary version of strict observance is limited to excluding meat on Fridays, which is why clam (not considered a meat) chowder is often the soup-of-the-day in many restaurants on Fridays. The more popular adoption of taking on the challenge of giving up something you like seems equivalent to understanding that Christmas means Santa and presents.
And yes, THE LINT YOU SEE IN THE VENT IS A FIRE HAZARD. Cleaning the lint trap after every load is important but not adequate. You need to clean the vent annually. http://www.flylady.net/pages/FlyShop_dryer.asp
I always felt like a “reject outsider Christian” in college when everybody who was doing the lent thing would walk around campus with the ash cross painted on their foreheads, and I didn’t have one… I think those feelings are largely why I personally feel animosity toward the practice, because I think it’s supposed to be a personal “expressing devotion to Christ” thing, but all the on-campus organizations tried to use it as an outreach tool, and it just alienated the Christians who weren’t doing it… (me)
…oh yeah, plus my Lutheran background, in which I grew up seeing it as “something you just did”–and it was never modeled as something personal and sincere for me… It was just one more thing on the church calendar that everybody was supposed to begrudgingly do (like being good, shaking hands, and singing hymns).
Sabrina–Marianne used to get her muddy bears at a convenience store in the student union at UCF. I wonder if that store is still there and if they still sell them? They were in a bin like jelly beans, and you paid by the pound. Those were the best.
I think Fat Tuesday sounds a little more up my alley. Though my mother-in-law, who was raised Catholic, always had fish on Fridays, and I think that’s a splendid idea. I mean, I don’t know about the spiritual significance, but it’s a proven fact that Americans don’t eat enough fish, so I’m all for any practice that encourages a once-a-week fish day! (You don’t like fish, though, do you? We need to find a fish you’ll like…or am I remembering that wrong?) Also, I find it hilarious that we’ve changed the meaning of lent so much with our “40 Day Challenge!” notions. Perhaps I’ll look into the real lent. (Also, the lint: AAAAAHHHHH! Well, now you know my weekend plans.)
Jesse: Yeah, during undergrad I felt slightly allergic to all on-campus religious organizations, but then felt mildly guilty for being such a snob. (Not saying that you’re a snob! But I was!)
(Er, am a snob is probably a more accurate description.)
Um, there were campus religious organizations at UCF? I thought it was just that crazy lady who called us all fornicators and the old guy giving out new testament bibles. Sorry, no thanks, I’m already one of the chosen people. Or do my pierced ears disqualify me? Crap!
Oh, Yana, don’t remind me about the campus “preachers”! Aaahh! I had conveniently blocked that out. While I was never involved in the religious orgs on campus, I think they were more apt to do service projects than scream at people from the “free speech lawn” (ha)…I don’t remember them being very in-your-face. UNCW had one of those “preachers” too–just got into a bunch of arguments with people for a few days each semester.
It always seemed to me that the free speech lawn was counter-intuitive to the whole idea of free speech since it limited where you could speak freely.
Yes, service projects seem like a much better way of getting people involved!
I know–the concept that there are only parts of a university campus for “free speech” is kind of laughable. I understand their reasons for doing so, but just calling it that…it’s funny.