3/01/2006

sacrifice

Today is the first day of Lent. Do you know what that means? Well it probably means diddly if you are not Catholic or Orthodox. Some of you probably celebrated Mardi Gras yesterday and I bet most of you didn't know the real reason that celebration originated. Fat Tuesday falls on the Tuesday before Lent. It's a day to 'live it up' before Ash Wednesday which marks the day you are supposed to start your 40 day journey of soul searching and repentance. I used to find it strange that although lent is supposed to be about finding some higher moral ground, the most common practice during Lent is to sacrifice something you really love or find hard to live without. I'm not sure why giving something up that you love, like sex or chocolate equates to soul searching. Unless maybe people find it hard to really see themselves or do any sort of repentance unless they are horny and devoid of sugar. I guess I can relate to that. There have been times in my life that sex overshadowed many truths. Like the times that I thought having sex with someone meant that they actually cared about me. Times that I thought having sex would actually fix problems that seemed unsolvable. Times that I thought having sex without emotion was just as pleasurable as when my heart was involved. I was wrong each and every single time. Maybe that's why we do it, give up something we think we can't live without, to prove to ourselves that clarity rarely comes without sacrifice. And the repentance part, I think that's about accepting what we find when that 40 day journey ends.

Today I'm starting my journey and for the next 40 days I'm going to sacrifice something I've been trying to get rid of for thirty some years. Clutter. I'm laying that load I've been carrying on my shoulders down by the roadside. I'm learning that it's hard to travel with so much baggage. Sometimes we hang on to so much junk.

5 Comments:

  1. WoodChuck said...
    Giving stuff up for lent is like a chemistry experiment. I fasted from TV one year. Amazing the stuff that floods to the surface when you take out an ingredient.
    I look forward to reading what comes to the surface for you, nwc.
    NML/Natalie said...
    OK, I haven't really thought about lent since I was a teenager. I went to an all girls private Catholic convent school where I was the only black, and the only Protestant...
    kimmyk said...
    My 40 days began yesterday too.

    I think it's funny at times that it takes Lent for us to cleanse us of the things we've always known we needed to do. For me giving up latte's has been a chore and it's only day 2...but it's for good cause and reason so.

    Good luck getting rid of your clutter....I need to do the same.
    JJ said...
    In addition to being in recovery from drugs and alcohol I'm also a recovering Catholic.
    I see you,
    JJ
    Mellissa said...
    NC,

    This was so great to read today. So powerful. It reminded me so much of myself.

    The shameful thing is that I have not taken the time to reflect on what I should sacrifice during this period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.

    Now I am going to go finish my coffee and reflect a little bit....thanks to you and this inspired post.

    Happy Maundi Thursday!

    Mellissa

    p.s. Loooove the song playing in the background!

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