Comments on: A Sardonic & Serious Take on Lenten Discipline

By: NDM

NDM — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:43:25 +0000

I too used to joke that I gave up being Catholic for Lent one year, and it has worked for me every since…but seriously, Lent is an important spiritual exercise if undertaken with depth (as is the case with any spiritual exercise). Growing up, giving up candy/TV/etc. for Lent was a token, almost mindless-cultural thing. It had no meaning for me. It wasn’t until a nun teaching centering prayer at my Unitarian church, years later, explained to one attendee that refraining from meat on Fridays during Lent was meant as a symbolic gesture of solidarity with Jesus as he endured his time in the desert that I appreciated the practice. Of course at one point in time, meat was a luxury itself and giving it up voluntarily for Lent had more meaning before the days of the McFish sandwich and cheese pizza.

By: Mars Girl

Mars Girl — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:13:41 +0000

I gave up Catholicism for Lent one year… and at the end of Lent, I was having so much fun, I never took it back!

By: tom

tom — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 05:02:54 +0000

Sorry, PB, I generally love all of your comments and writings, but I have to say that I did read the entire original post. IMHO, the juxtaposition of the tone in the first two paragraphs with your personal reflections of a deep, profound experience of a your own particular sacrifice in your last paragraphs (beautifully worded, by the way) really does appear to me as if you are presenting the latter as being more profound and spiritual than the former (the whole potato chips and lip gloss “thing”), and therefore being a bit dismissive.
But, I understand now by your comments that is not what you meant, so my apologies, but I do stand by my earlier comments, and believe that it is perfectly reasonable to infer what I did by reading the entire post as I did before, with the contextual interpretation that I gave it.

By: martinet

martinet — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:12:14 +0000

The Lenten practice that I always remember from my Catholic school days is the year that my sworn enemy, the obnoxious Cheri, and I consciously gave up fighting with each other for Lent. It actually worked. We didn’t stay friendly for *very* long after that, but it was longer than we had ever gone before. I think we were in third or fourth grade. [That’s awesome. You just know that’s going to work its way into some reader’s sermon! - PB]

By: Wormwood's Doxy

Wormwood's Doxy — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:51:05 +0000

Peacebang—as someone in a tradition that observes Lent (Episcopal Church), we are taught that it’s not what you choose to give up that really matters. It’s the fact that, each time you choose to stop and turn away from whatever it is, you are reminded that God is in the details of your life.

So M-n-M’s, wine, sex, or snark—it really doesn’t matter. The intention is the important part.

We are also taught that it’s not cricket to comment on what other people choose to give up for Lent—except out of their hearing—but that just may be the Episcopalian distaste for judgment showing through.

By: tom

tom — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:51:57 +0000

Oops, sorry, some spelling errors there, along with omissions.
I meant to write at the end that we should not be too “pharisaical” in dismissing the faith practices as being inconsequential or unworthy.

By: tom

tom — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:46:42 +0000

Good grief…if we were to reduce every discussion with “well JESUS did it this way (read: preach, proclaim the good news, interact with those around him, fast, etc.) then any other way of preaching, penance, interaction, etc., that doesn’t match his standards is no good, right?
Who is to judge that one individuals giving up a seemingly trivial item for a period of time constitutes a “ridiculous” attempt at penance, and a opportunity for others to laugh? Yes, Jesus fasted on water for forty days…do we have to do exactly as he did to have it “matter”? Of course not!
This small, seemingly inconsequential acts of giving up little “treats” are not ends in themselves…if they serve the purpose of reminders to the individual of the grace of a loving God, and gets them to focus for even a minute or two on that (i.e., maybe certain individuals loved to snack on candy or potato chips every day, and each day that they forced themselves not to do so they actually thought for a minute about spiritual issues beyond the moment..what is wrong with that?). The issue at hand is not WHAT you either do or “give up” for Lent, the focus should be on how these small gestures have you focus on the meaning of the Easter message, no matter how small.

This attitude (which quite frankly I find a little arrogant) that knocks people for sacrificing in terms of small gestures reminds me of individuals who love to mock the devotional practices of individuals such as keeping holy cards or holy statues in their homes. Silly superstition, the uberrational believers among us love to say…the fact of the matter is many on this planet live their spiritual lives not through a hypercerebral study of faith (which unfortunately too many Anglo-Saxon mainline Protestant denominations do), but through a real, incorporeal experience of faith lived out through small gestures of little sacrifices, simple devotional prayers, holy objects that focus their practice, etc.
Let’s not too “pharasaical” in dismissing or giggling about the faith practices of others, as somehow being unworthy or inconsequential. And quite frankly, you never know what may have changed in the heart and soul of the individual that gave up chocolate for Lent.

[Did you read the post in its entirety, Tom? Or did you just hone in on the snark at the beginning and decide to react in a gush of judgmental chastisement and MAJOR projection, taking far too seriously some light-hearted comments about what I thought was a damn funny cartoon? The substance of the post was not in my *mild teasing* about giving up popcorn or M&M’s. You’ve gone into some serious judgment yourself, there, buddy, and blown off the only part of my post that was truly a theological reflection. - PB]

By: BJ

BJ — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:16:45 +0000

But isn’t it actually about fasting, rather than ‘giving up?’

I think that it is about ‘planting seeds’ to deepen one’s faith and awareness. For me, it isn’t about’giving up’ M&Ms (although M&Ms and Hot Tamales played a part one Lent), it is about cultivating an awareness of my actions, both large and small, and cultivating a deeper awareness about the distinction between want and need. It is about recognizing how thoughtless actions permeate my life. It is about contemplating how this gets in the way of my awareness of God’s presence in my life.

By: MamaG

MamaG — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:47:07 +0000

Here, here! Great post, PB. I’m benefitting from this Lent also.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:23:29 +0000

When I was in high school, my friend Christy’s mom put the following on their answering machine:

Hi, we can’t take your call right now. Christy has given up the phone for lent.
Please leave a message and she’ll call you back after Easter.