For Christians, those folks who aspire to be more like Jesus Christ, personal sacrifice is an expected element of the spiritual path. Christians are not the only ones who sacrifice; just ask any mom, soldier, or humanitarian. Mom, of course, is the only one who will go into great detail on the subject.
Giving up something we enjoy for the sake of another is not limited by religion. Parents often make choices, such as Jane’s education vs. touring Europe, and flat-screen TV vs. Wii. People make sacrifices with (and within) their careers, choosing social work over medicine or public defender work over corporate law. Although this article is about “giving up for Lent,” the implications reach beyond the Christian denominations.
Most of my life I thought that giving something up for Lent was either a church-imposed, needless ritual or just silly. I didn’t have a clue how not eating chocolate honored God. But for the last ten or twelve years, I have observed Lent by abstaining from things I like, and I take my Lenten obligations seriously; for me, it’s a promise I have made to God. One year I gave up beef, caramel, and sleeping late. Since I have few responsibilities, I get out of bed whenever I please. So my sacrifice was to be out of bed by 9:00 a.m. every day. I admit, I failed once and got up at 9:01. I did feel guilty.
Giving up caramel was interesting because I was pretty much a caramel addict. I don’t particularly like chocolate (I hear the gasps out there!), but I did end up occasionally substituting chocolate at caramel time. Subsequently, I lost my taste for caramel, as well as chocolate, and seldom indulge in either.
Giving up beef that year was the most traumatic. I’m a flexitarian, which means that I eat meat, but not much of it. Dropping beef for 46 days (technically, Lent is 40 days because it does not include Sundays), should have been a no-brainer. And it was. Until St. Patrick’s Day. You know, corned beef. I’m not Irish, but on St. Patrick’s Day I do serve the traditional corned beef and cabbage. As the big day approached and I could practically taste it, I suddenly realized, “Oh yeah, corned BEEF!” I was disconsolate. I did not, however, break my promise. We had corned beef and cabbage on Easter.
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Article comments
1 - Dawn
I loved not only your content, but your writing style. This is the second blog of yours I've had the pleasure of reading and I look forward to many more. Chip constantly makes me smile and I can see that he's blessed w/ a lady who also shares that delightful sense of the borderline absurd.
~ Dawn