Now as an adult, a non-Catholic adult, I understand it much better. Lent is a period to grow in your Christian faith. The sacrifice of something that separates you from a stronger faith should be given up for the short 43 days (yes, I counted...it is MORE than 40) to help you focus back on your relationship to God. Is it a certain food group that you have a problem with? Give it up! Television causing you to turn away from the almighty? Turn it off! Use that weakness and turn it into a strength. Jesus gave his life to save ours for eternity, we should be able to give up one small vice for 40-some days.
Our minister challenged the congregation to participate in the Lenten season by picking something to give up. To be considered a good candidate for sacrifice, these vices had to be some practice that perhaps was causing us to "stumble" in our faith.
My vice? Facebook. That was an easy one for me to decide on, but much tougher to actually pull the trigger. I have been Facebook free for 13 days now...30 left to go. According to the "rules" of Lent, you can backslide on Sundays, the Lord's Day. I don't think so! I am going full-on! No Sunday Slacking for me. It was amazing how infiltrated my life had become by Facebook. I had to think very hard about all the prompts that I get from Facebook...e-mail alerts, pop-ups on my phone, etc. I had to shut them all down! I even left an important message with someone's address in my Facebook e-mail because I couldn't get to it. I am now trying to stay in touch the old fashioned way...e-mail and phone texts!
Instead of spending time on Facebook after dinner, I use the time to pray a little, read a lot, and I have been doing the NYT Crossword Puzzle each day. I am getting a little smarter, and much more prayerful. I have not been tempted to cheat, and when I feel a pang of disconnectedness, I say a quick prayer, thinking about how much Jesus sacrificed for me. That feeling of wanting to check my profile never lasts too long. I do find myself talking aloud about perfect status updates when they happen. Crazy!
A few others that I know have also given Facebook up. I hope they are doing okay with it...but there's no way for me to know without access...ha! My Jewish friend, Roya thought that I had given up all forms of electronic communication, until one of my Facebook friends told her, no, I had just given up Facebook. I guess that tells you how much I was on there.
30 days and counting...wish me well. I hope all of you found something worthwhile to give up, and are growing closer to God in the process.
Chow!
