resurrectionsong

February 09, 2005

Lent

Back in the bartending days, I had a Catholic customer who was an impressively heavy drinker. He was a wiry little guy and he drank Bud and he drank it by the gallon. Once he'd gone past the first six pack, each bottle would only last for a couple of minutes and he'd be on to the next. Not that he could hold his liquor well--he got toasty enough that he had to regularly get rides home from others in the bar.

Now, whenever Lent would roll around this guy would give up beer. Not a single sip of Bud would pass his lips.

He drank red wine instead. By the gallon. With the same results.

Which to me was really missing the point. I don't have to deal with Lent--as a Baptist, we have to give up fun stuff pretty much throughout our whole lives, so Lent seems just a tad redundant--but it always seemed to me that you were supposed to give up something meaningful. If I were to give up lasagna and replace it with ziti, would I have really sacrificed anything?

That kind of a sacrifice is on the order of the UN's handwringing after the most recent genocide has died down: it might sound like it means something, but it's really just an empty gesture.

Fast forward to those years where I lived with my friend Jerry. One time we were talking about Lent after I had asked him what he had given up. While I don't remember what his answer was, I do remember being surprised and telling him the story of my drunken customer. Jerry explained Lent to me in a way that was startlingly clear.

The point wasn't just to give up something or even to purely sacrifice something, the point, from his view, was to give up something that stood in the way of his relationship with (and understanding of) God. The point was to remove obstacles that made it harder for him to be the kind of Christian that he wanted to be.

So, with Lent coming up, here's the question for all of my Christian readers (whether Catholic or not): in an honest assessment of the way you live your life, what are the things that you could give up to be closer to God? What should you give up to be closer to God?

Posted by zombyboy at February 9, 2005 05:23 PM

Comments

Excellent question. I have been thinking about this for days.....

I think I need to make sure that I get an adequate amount of sleep each night. If I rest well then I am less likely to hit snooze, and more likely to be up before everyone else, and get started on my day.

How does that make me closer to God? Most of my temptations in the day to be impatient, judgmental, reactive, overly sensitive have to do with being tired. If I am up earlier, I am more likely to read my Bible because I always find something that encourages me to extend grace, mercy, patience, kindness, gentleness; things I wouldn't think of on my own, and certainly wouldn't with lack of good rest. I am propelled toward goodness, drawn toward whom I believe to be the ultimate Good.

I frequently tell my girls that to give into our natural and initial response is the easy way. It takes no thought, only the beat of a heart. But to return kindness to someone's sarcasm, to be willing to read yet another book, to be able to see the glass as half-full, to be respectful to a coach you don't respect takes a lot more energy and self-denial.

Getting to bed at a decent time, and then getting up to feed not only my mind and body, but my spirit, ultimately brings me closer to God because I strongly believe that at this point in my life, He asks of me to be the hands and feet of faith.

Posted by: Rae at February 10, 2005 09:58 AM

as a Baptist, we have to give up fun stuff pretty much throughout our whole lives, so Lent seems just a tad redundant

All too true, zomby, all too true. ;-)

Posted by: bryan at February 10, 2005 10:53 AM

I like your friend's take on sacrifice, which I think should hold true on everything: we should try to sacrifice that which gets in the way of our relationship with God, lent season or not.

That said, when I think of things I wish I could give up, it's not "things" as much as habits or actions. For instance, I wish I could give up self-centeredness, or at least a good portion of it. I wouldn't care what others think, or what possessions I have, or who's talked about me behind my back, or so many other things. And all that time previously spent worrying about "me" could be more productively spent working on my relationship with God.

Posted by: T.L. Hines at February 10, 2005 12:11 PM

Too deep for me today...

Posted by: Nathan at February 10, 2005 02:04 PM

I'd have to give up the analytical mindset that wound up moving me away from Christianity.

Posted by: jed at February 11, 2005 04:32 PM