The Lent Thing - Baltimore Style

I was reading back through an old post about Lent when it dawned on me I needed to pull the trigger on this year's Lenten resolutions.  As I explained here  there are 3 things that need to happen: I need to 1) stop doing something, 2) start doing something and 3) something that is kept private. (i.e. I can't give up potato chips and make that the "private" thing because it would become apparent very quickly as I'd be in the police notes pretty fast.)

So why after all these years do I still cling to making Lenten resolutions? For those not familiar with the  Baltimore Catechism, I invite you to look over the following:

[caption id="attachment_2424" align="alignleft" width="193" caption="My Youth Started Here"][/caption]

This is the "beginner" version of the Baltimore Catechism.  Anyone who went through similar formation can still do the rapid-fire answers to questions like, "WHO MADE YOU?" and "WHY DID GOD MAKE YOU?"

After that you graduated to an expanded version, the St. Joseph's Baltimore Catechism.  That contained  more of the same on an expanded basis.  More to memorize.  More to stand up and parrot back to Here-Comes-Sister-Celestine-Riding-On-A-Jellybean.  (Our idea of really giving the nuns a hard time.)

There is something to be said for using rote memorization to train the memory but when I look back at these images I don't feel so much proud of having a well-trained mind as horror at what kind of ideas we were trained with.

[caption id="attachment_2442" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="FYI  Gay People Want to Marry The Person of Their Choice, Too"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2450" align="aligncenter" width="499" caption="GIRLS: REMEMBER YOUR PLACE!"][/caption]

I have a dear friend who is my sherpa guide to hedonistic consumption.  I like to tell him he is "an occasion of sin" because he tempts me towards all kinds of impurities like expensive linens and splurging on gourmet cheeses and wines. My knee-jerk reaction toward what I perceive as excess was based on the following:

[caption id="attachment_2432" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="Priorities, Beeuches!"][/caption]

Yeah, television is definitely an occasion of sin. "Bonanza" was pretty scandalous. Ed Sullivan?  Don't get me started.  Pure filth.

John would be considered a "BAD COMPANION!"



He's actually a pretty good companion. (We rarely sneak a cigarette.) He's taught me a lot about myself, including that we all deserve to have and enjoy nice things without beating ourselves up about it.

I'm all for a spring housecleaning of the soul but this year feels different. I've been sorting receipts for taxes and am appalled at the number of office visits, doctor visits, etc. that have piled up over the past year, and continue into this year.  My health has really sucked for the past 18 months (BTW, I'd be happy to give up lumbar steroid spinals for Lent) and I never did buy in to that "all pain and suffering can be offered up...will strengthen your faith" BS. So what to do for Lent when I already feel quite full-up with the existing penances in my life? I think I'll flip things and make this Lent a time for feeding my soul instead purging all my "impurities" (like my lust for potato chips).  I'm going to find things that nourish my heart, help me cope with my aches and strengthen my beliefs and values. I'm going to replenish my tool chest of life and faith skills.  While that approach is not in sync with the Baltimore Catechism I believe if I can do that for 40 days I'll come out on the other end as a stronger, better, faith-filled person - and that is what I believe to be the purpose of Lent.

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.

Travel Lightly

I love Lent. It's kind of like spring cleaning for the soul.  I remember our parish priest at the Newman Center starting us off on Lent with 3 suggestions:  start doing one thing that is a personal challenge, stop (give up) doing another, and do one thing that is a complete secret between you and God.  Then he would lean forward and say, "And I don't mean giving up watermelon and one-armed women."

A few days ago on Sacred Space, my one-stop website for a bit of daily bread, the scripture was about learning to live without all the attachments of the world - to "travel lightly," without the burdens of anxiety, greed, worldliness. I find myself needing to travel lightly - some personal disappointments of late have left me feeling resentful and overwhelmed with burdens I thought would be eased.  So my personal challenge for Lent will be to start traveling lightly.  I have already decided what to give up, but it also includes the 3rd challenge - to keep it a secret between me and my God.  So there you are.  Good luck to all of us travelers.