"The idea of relinquishing" or "Become incredibly addicted"
I've only ever observed Lent once. In fact, before college, I don't think I'd ever even heard of it. My dad's side of the family is Catholic, but as my parents are both hippies, we only ever observed the big holidays. Christmas and Easter were the big ones, though they'd sometimes get nevergabe and I a little something on Valentine's day.
The college I went to has been non-denominational for many years, but was once associated with the Methodist church and a large part of the student body consisted of Methodists. Some wonderful people included in that group, too. They introduced me to the observation of Lent. Although now that I think about it, "Nancy" may have told me about it once or twice in high school, but I guess I just didn't pay that much attention.
I confess, I'm not all that well-versed in the Biblical origins of the practice. My understanding is that is stems from Christians' emulation of Jesus struggling to resist the Devil's temptations before his crucifixion. I think. Traditionally, I think the followers of Christ are supposed to give up meat and alcohol. Possibly a few other vices associated with the seven sins. Gambling and swearing come to mind. Damn, how did Remy LeBeau ever survive being Catholic during Lent? Again, this is all just off the top of my head, and I'm certainly not one hundred percent certain of any of it. But I admire the practice of it. I like the idea of relinquishing an indulgence in order to "purify" yourself. It's a practice that spans many religions and cultures. Ramadan comes to mind, as does religious vegetarianism in Hinduism.
It intrigued me and I figured Lent as good a time as any to try this experiment. So sophomore year of college, I decided to give up pizza, chocolate and ice cream just to see if I could do it. For those of you who have ever been to college, that's pretty much your entire diet.
I was successful. Ask dragon_fall, my roommate at the time who was skeptical that I'd be able to go all 40 days. I proved to myself that I could give something up that I really loved. Knowing I could accomplish this, I've never really felt the inclination to observe Lent since then. Until now.
Recently I've become incredibly addicted to Ravelry, a site where crocheters, knitters and spinners can find patterns, projects, post their own work, discuss techniques or anything else for that matter (I've even found a Weird Al group on there). It's such an incredible resource and I love it so much. But I'm on it ALL the time. Now, I feel I really need to give it up for a little while. Just so I can prove to myself that it's not completely taking over my life. For the time being, I have plenty of crochet projects I need to work on, and I've made a point of printing out and/or saving those patterns that I'll need. I intend to keep posting project notes and pictures here on LiveJournal. And I know that as soon as midnight hits on Easter Sunday, I'll be logging on like a mad woman. But for the time being, no Ravelry.
I've also heard of a new tradition that has been taking shape during Lent, which is to start doing something good for yourself. I think I'm going to take a stab at this practice, too. Tomorrow, I plan on making a call that I've been meaning to make for about two months now. I'm going to set up some hours to begin getting out of the house and doing some volunteer work at an animal shelter.
Wish me luck.
♥
P.S. This song is quite appropriate for Lent! Also, had it not been for LJ's spell-checker, "crucifixion" would have been "crucifiction."
The college I went to has been non-denominational for many years, but was once associated with the Methodist church and a large part of the student body consisted of Methodists. Some wonderful people included in that group, too. They introduced me to the observation of Lent. Although now that I think about it, "Nancy" may have told me about it once or twice in high school, but I guess I just didn't pay that much attention.
I confess, I'm not all that well-versed in the Biblical origins of the practice. My understanding is that is stems from Christians' emulation of Jesus struggling to resist the Devil's temptations before his crucifixion. I think. Traditionally, I think the followers of Christ are supposed to give up meat and alcohol. Possibly a few other vices associated with the seven sins. Gambling and swearing come to mind. Damn, how did Remy LeBeau ever survive being Catholic during Lent? Again, this is all just off the top of my head, and I'm certainly not one hundred percent certain of any of it. But I admire the practice of it. I like the idea of relinquishing an indulgence in order to "purify" yourself. It's a practice that spans many religions and cultures. Ramadan comes to mind, as does religious vegetarianism in Hinduism.
It intrigued me and I figured Lent as good a time as any to try this experiment. So sophomore year of college, I decided to give up pizza, chocolate and ice cream just to see if I could do it. For those of you who have ever been to college, that's pretty much your entire diet.
I was successful. Ask dragon_fall, my roommate at the time who was skeptical that I'd be able to go all 40 days. I proved to myself that I could give something up that I really loved. Knowing I could accomplish this, I've never really felt the inclination to observe Lent since then. Until now.
Recently I've become incredibly addicted to Ravelry, a site where crocheters, knitters and spinners can find patterns, projects, post their own work, discuss techniques or anything else for that matter (I've even found a Weird Al group on there). It's such an incredible resource and I love it so much. But I'm on it ALL the time. Now, I feel I really need to give it up for a little while. Just so I can prove to myself that it's not completely taking over my life. For the time being, I have plenty of crochet projects I need to work on, and I've made a point of printing out and/or saving those patterns that I'll need. I intend to keep posting project notes and pictures here on LiveJournal. And I know that as soon as midnight hits on Easter Sunday, I'll be logging on like a mad woman. But for the time being, no Ravelry.
I've also heard of a new tradition that has been taking shape during Lent, which is to start doing something good for yourself. I think I'm going to take a stab at this practice, too. Tomorrow, I plan on making a call that I've been meaning to make for about two months now. I'm going to set up some hours to begin getting out of the house and doing some volunteer work at an animal shelter.
Wish me luck.
♥
P.S. This song is quite appropriate for Lent! Also, had it not been for LJ's spell-checker, "crucifixion" would have been "crucifiction."