Tuesday, February 17, 2009

It's Co-o-o-ming....


...The Christmas Feast is already a fading memory,
And already the mind begins to be vaguely aware
Of an unpleasant whiff of apprehension at the thought
Of Lent and Good Friday which cannot, after all, now
Be very far off...

~ W.H. Auden ~
For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratio
1941-42
I'm starting to try Lenten sacrifice ideas on for size. Can't give up coffee this year; already did that. Can't give up sweets; already did that, too. We always give up the tv, so that's non-negotiable. The computer? Did that cross someone's mind? I've been thinking about it... but, I don't know. Maybe I could give it up with caveats? I'm still trying to decide what is practical and what would make me so depressed I couldn't function, or that I'd just end up failing at. It's so disheartening to overreach and fail, but then I don't want to feel like an underachiever, either.
We only have one week to go, though. Yikes! I hope the time from Ash Wednesday to Easter goes as quickly as the time between Christmas and Ash Wednesday has gone!
To take a quiz to see what you know about the Lenten season, run over to Aquinas and More.

8 comments:

Sheila said...

Have you thought of doing something rather than giving something up? By that I mean, one year I decided to say the rosary every day during Lent. I found that in the years when I gave something up my focus became that rather than what Lent should be. Praying the rosary was a wonderful way to help me focus on what I needed to focus on.

Ranee @ Arabian Knits said...

Since I am nursing, I won't be doing the strict fasts of Ash Wednesday or Good Friday, so I will be doing a media fast: No movies/dvds, no radio, no iPod, no cell phone, no computer, no internet, the whole deal. I'm not sure about the rest, but I will attempt to limit my computer time.

Lisa said...

Sheila ~ &:o) You're right; something pro-active is always good! We already say the daily rosary, but I've been thinking along the lines of some special spiritual reading. I've also been toying with the idea of spending my computer time typing out the out-of-print text of a spiritual retreat for mothers that has been meaningful to me in the past. That would serve double duty of my doing it again ~ and sharing it with others. What do you think?

Lisa said...

Ranee ~ Wow! I'm in awe! I don't know if I could do without the cell phone, especially ~ and giving up the radio would be hard. And the internet.... WEll, I'm working on the concept here. Trying to get my brain around a real commitment to giving it up. We'll see if it's a go.

Ranee @ Arabian Knits said...

Well, 'm only doing that particular fast for two days! It is something that has been on my heart to start doing once a month, even after Lent. I thought Ash Wednesday and Good Friday were good days to try it out.

Marie said...

I know a good Lenten practice..give up grizzling. Think it's too easy? Think again!

You know the 'I wish so and so would pick up their socks...or 'I wish it wasn't so cold or hot' etc. And no complaining to your husband or children along the lines of 'why haven't you taken out the garbage' or 'I told you to clean your rooms.'...It was the Hardest Lent I gave myself, so hard that I never did it again LOL!

Peace to you Lisa and good luck if you try it;) you are going to need it.

Marie xoxooxxo

MightyMom said...

actually I did think about giving up blogging. as my reader climbed into the 80s just because I took a couple days to work on my sewing projects I REALLY thought about it.

the problem is that I've made real friends here. Friends that I'd sorely miss if I were to go on sabatical for 50 days. I can't see how isolating yourself from your friends is exactly what they had in mind with the whole sacrifice for Lent idea.

MightyMom said...

oh and I'll say that my hardest and most instructive Lent was the Lent that instead of giving something up...
I made something for a person in my church....ANONYMOUSLY.

hand made, beautiful...probably the best work of that sort I've ever done really....ANONYMOUS.

no pics to put on the blog...no recognition of the hours put into it....not even a thank you...

ouch.

then I realized that to keep it ANONYMOUS I not only couldn't tell THAT person I'd made it for them...I couldn't tell ANYONE in the church...otherwise he'd find out...no one but my hubby and my mom know that I made it.



it's still hard, and I don't even go to that church anymore.

but I learned so very much about myself and humility and pride and how I struggle with them.