Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Lent 2013

Lent begins today.

A time of remembering my faith and refining my daily choices.

I think it was last year I did the 40 bags in 40 days.

This year, I am giving up chocolate.

Ouch. It's a little more personal this time.

As Maddie and I discussed, giving up desserts/sweets all together would be too difficult for me and I would make everyone miserable. But chocolate, while a sacrifice, wouldn't require me to live as a martyr for the next 40+ days.

And truly, that's not what I want Lent to be for me. A time of sacrifice and an opportunity for me to remember my faith, but not a time where I get a free pass to make others miserable because I am being so pious.

I don't think the purpose of Lent is to make Christians feel guilty. To be honest, I don't do guilty religion at all. I don't believe God keeps score, nor do I believe that God is looking for me to fail. That's why at Lent, I don't want to choose something to give up that is so difficult that I am bound to fail immediately and repeatedly.  Sure, I could, and I would then live the next few weeks in misery reminding myself daily that I am not good enough.

Instead, I am going to remember my faith journey and refine my choices...starting with giving up chocolate from now till Easter.

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