Lenten Hex

Happy Fat Tuesday.   Or is it "Merry Fat Tuesday"?  I'm never really sure. I was thinking about that last night while paper piecing some hexagons.  I've seen them on blogs everywhere and they look so beautiful when finished.  They are also a remarkably portable project, and since we are off-and-on house sitting for a friend I can close up my basket and leave them there while we return back to our "real" house.

So Lent is on the horizon and while I have departed from many aspects and beliefs of my native Catholic faith  I still have serious residual beliefs that I both cherish and embrace.  One of those is the observance of  Lent.  Why not?  I have always seen Lent as a  great house cleaning for the soul.   Time to realign priorities, examine behaviors and take a good hard look at how you treat others.   We had a priest at the Newman Center who would always give a rippin' pre-Lent sermon.  When he talked about giving things up for Lent he would finish with,   "...and I don't mean giving up watermelon and one-armed women!"  Always got a laugh.  He also taught us to do three things for Lent:  1) give something up (okay, pretty traditional).  2)  Start doing something - and continue it after Lent has passed.  It could be walking, exercising,  spiritual reading - something that would be good for you both mentally and spiritually.  The third thing was always the one that got me - 3) something that was a secret between you and God.  Something no one else would notice.  That was always the hardest one because I felt most accountable for that one.   Even when the thought of taking a "cheater Sunday"   and having those potato chips  (mmmmmm  salty) was too much to resist, I could never cheat on #3.    It was personal.  It felt like more of a promise than just a Lenten resolution.  This year #3 has  come to me like a bullet and I'm not happy about having to do it for the next 40 days.   I just know that IT is what #3 needs to be this year.  (I'd tell you more but it's a secret between me and God, remember? )  Wish me luck.  I'll keep working on my hexagons  so maybe I'll have something lovely and photogenic to post soon. Meanwhile, the snow is melting but it is still pretty freakin' COLD.