I
was a Senior in high school when I first learned about Lent. I was fascinated by
the idea. I had a Catholic classmate that gave up sugar (a common sacrifice for
Lent I discovered) and put a cramp in our cooking class assignment because of
it, but I respected her. I thought it was really cool that she took it
seriously and didn’t cheat.
A
lot of teens would cheat. I mean it’s not like her parents would know. But she
would, and that was impressive to me.
When
I was a missionary (for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) in
Japan back in the day (late 80s) we used to do this thing called A Season of
Sanctification. It was a period of time when we tried to be “perfect.” Yeah, I
sucked at it. I loved the goal-setting
and check-off-list making. I Love that! I still make lists, like crazy! I
am not so good on the checking-off part. You know, the getting ‘er done. Meh.
So
when I came home from my mission I kind of decided to do the Lenten thing and
make a sacrifice during the 40 days before Easter. I thought it would help me
appreciate the season and bring me closer to the Spirit. I gave up chocolate,
sugar, or soda. Sometimes I DID something instead of giving something up. One
year I participated in Body-for-Life and went down two sizes!
They
say it takes 21 days to make a habit so you’d think I would have a habit after
40+ days but usually not. I would binge before (the year I made the most
delicious homemade Boston Cream Pie for Fat Tuesday, notwithstanding!) and
binge after. The said year that I did the BFL? I stopped when it was over and
if you know that BFL is a 12-week program then you know that I didn’t make it.
In
the last 10 years or so I have tried to combine the two ideas. I have tried to
create a Season of Sanctification during Lent where I try to do “it all” for 40
days. I have never done it. I usually give up after about 3 days. Meh.
This
year, as part of my Blogging goals and my year of the Uneven Number I will be
incorporating two Seasons of Sanctification. The first one will begin in
November around Thanksgiving (which if you do the math is approximately 40ish
days before Christmas) and again in the spring around Lent. My blog posts will
be reflective of this goal and I have an outline that I plan to follow. I am
hoping that the timing will help to bring me closer to the Spirit of Christmas
and Easter, the two most holy of holidays for Christians. I consider myself a
True Christian more than anything else. The Golden Rule is the motto of my
life.
Wish me luck... and maybe, bug me?
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