So tomorrow is fat Tuesday (post about that to come) and then we have our kick-off to the Lenten season. For some these next 40 days mean nothing new and for others it means ashes on wednesday, fish on fridays, time to reflect, penance, and of course giving something up or doing something over the lenten season. Of course this is a broad generalization of what the lenten season is REALLY about - but you get the idea.
So as we prepare for a new lenten season I must ask the all important question, what do you do for lent? I am always confused with what to do. I have given up pop, snacks and candy SO many times during my life, it almost doesn't feel like I am really doing anything to better me or others. Don't get me wrong....it isn't easy for me to give up pop but how many times can I do that before it looses it's meaning /the purpose of the season? So here I am once again, just a couple days before lent trying to figure out exactly what to do. I have tried doing things for others, but end up failing and just giving money to the church.
So at the moment I am confused. I keep thinking maybe it is better to give of my time or effort than of food or luxury. I think this time should be to reflex on ones self and others and become a personal thing....and that i should not be just giving something up for the sake of giving something up. Of course if by giving up a certain item (i.e candy) you feel something more than just the urge to have candy then I say go for it!!!! My questions are mine alone....I just am not getting anything any more by giving things up and I hate that I complain when i give something up b/c it shouldn't be about that. I also hate that on Easter Sunday ALL I can think about is finally getting whatever it was I gave up instead of thinking about the reserection.
So I am trying to think of what I can do to help me become a better person...to reflect on things. Maybe I will write in a journal observations/reflections about myself. Maybe I will have a complain box and everytime I complain about myself or say something negative about others I will put money in a box and give it to the church. I am sure the church will get a bunch of money from that! Who knows - it may help me to be more positive and inturn maybe it will help the others around me be positive. Or maybe I will just start praying, I don't know. See, you have to understand I have faith but I also have ALOT of questions about religion and things I don't agree with....so sometimes it is hard for me to find the true meaning in things and instead I feel a pressure from the church to follow what has always been done before. (see this is what I don't like....a pressure to feel like you HAVE to do something or else you are not a good person. This time of year is not be about that...religion should not be about that - ugh)
And P.S. I actually REALLY love the meaning behind and everything about the lenten season (it why we are here) - I just don't get this one aspect of lent (giving something up).....shouldn't we be doing more; shouldn't we be looking inside ourselves????
Anyways - any thoughts on Lent? Will you be giving anything up? (please feel free to answer, whether you celebrate or not)
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