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What are you giving up for Lent? - Page 14

post #196 of 206
3/11/10 at 6:37pm
^^^ BTW ... Sundays are not part of the 40 days of Lent. Otherwise it's more than 40 days.
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post #197 of 206
3/11/10 at 7:49pm
Quote:
^^^ Lent is not just about giving up ... it can also be about taking-on something. Of course, taking on something -- say ... volunteering with a food bank -- might also be about a giving-up of one's free time.

And ... it's best if one continues in the new "habit" after the 40 days are past.

Exactly. Perhaps the point I was trying to get at in less then eloquent terms.

If you're really looking to get a sense of 'sacrifice' then keep 'er going all year round. If you want to do something meaningful during lent go volunteer somewhere, donate a month's worth of shoe money (for some of you folks that would feed a village for a year)...hell, go to a veterans home and sit down with them for an hour each week.

Do something tangible and meaningful to someone other then yourself.
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post #198 of 206
3/11/10 at 9:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PiperInAlberta View Post
Do something tangible and meaningful to someone other then yourself.
That hits the nail on the head!
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post #199 of 206
3/12/10 at 1:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RSS View Post
That hits the nail on the head!

I thought you gave up 'nailing' for lent?
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post #200 of 206
3/12/10 at 1:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by PiperInAlberta View Post
I thought you gave up 'nailing' for lent?
Good God no!

Of course, if you mean the kind of hammer and nails one uses to build a house ... well I did ask the builder of one of my projects if I could come out one Friday and pick up a hammer. He told me he'd have to increase his bid.
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post #201 of 206
3/12/10 at 2:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RSS View Post
Good God no!

Of course, if you mean the kind of hammer and nails one uses to build a house ... well I did ask the builder of one of my projects if I could come out one Friday and pick up a hammer. He told me he'd have to increase his bid.

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post #202 of 206
3/12/10 at 3:04pm
I'm not religious at all, but I am trying to get my priorities straight and stop wasting my time on meaningless things. So I am giving up Styleforum for the next month and bit, until the school year is over. So see you guys April 19th. And if anyone sees me online between now and then (hopefully won't happen) feel free to send me a message and tell me to get the fuck off.
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post #203 of 206
3/12/10 at 3:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PiperInAlberta View Post
Exactly. Perhaps the point I was trying to get at in less then eloquent terms.

If you're really looking to get a sense of 'sacrifice' then keep 'er going all year round. If you want to do something meaningful during lent go volunteer somewhere, donate a month's worth of shoe money (for some of you folks that would feed a village for a year)...hell, go to a veterans home and sit down with them for an hour each week.

Do something tangible and meaningful to someone other then yourself.

Okay - I hear you and you have a valid point. A few of them, actually.

But what I don't quite get is how easy it is for you to casually dismiss the efforts to do without something. Granted it's not self-flagellation and hair shirts, and it doesn't benefit society as a whole as much as volunteering, but still: one of the reasons I am doing this is to detach from some of the things I value more than I should. Even then, I'm making an effort to re-focus on what ought to take more importance: charity, family, faith, etc.

And, each year is different. Some years I did nothing. Last year, I committed an hour each day to the little one for baseball - and before you scoff, it's a longer story than it sounds. He still remembers that I did that, even after I'd forgotten.

What I'm getting at is that the effort to do better is just that: effort to be better. Better husband, better father, better boss - whatever. And, FWIW, I'd rather set smaller, reasonable goals than make a grand gesture I know I won't sustain.
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post #204 of 206
3/12/10 at 3:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas View Post
Okay - I hear you and you have a valid point. A few of them, actually.

But what I don't quite get is how easy it is for you to casually dismiss the efforts to do without something. Granted it's not self-flagellation and hair shirts, and it doesn't benefit society as a whole as much as volunteering, but still: one of the reasons I am doing this is to detach from some of the things I value more than I should. Even then, I'm making an effort to re-focus on what ought to take more importance: charity, family, faith, etc.

And, each year is different. Some years I did nothing. Last year, I committed an hour each day to the little one for baseball - and before you scoff, it's a longer story than it sounds. He still remembers that I did that, even after I'd forgotten.

What I'm getting at is that the effort to do better is just that: effort to be better. Better husband, better father, better boss - whatever. And, FWIW, I'd rather set smaller, reasonable goals than make a grand gesture I know I won't sustain.

You did something meaningful to someone other then yourself. You considered your options and chose to do something meaningful to someone else.

Perhaps if you're giving up drinking because it affects your family, then it's meaningful. Or you're giving up choking the chicken to pay more sexual attention to your wife. Then your 'sacrifice' is meaningful in that you're doing some with tangible benefits.

I take issue with lent for two main reasons;

a) Tiny gestures that make you and you alone feel better about yourself aren't really a 'sacrifice'.. Unless, as in your example, your changes/giving up something had a positive effect on someone else.

b) Why do people wait until one specific (religiously motivated) time of year to be a 'better person'. Man the fu*k up and do it all year, every year.
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post #205 of 206
3/13/10 at 1:29am
i gave up beer and liquor. not red wine though.
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post #206 of 206
3/13/10 at 2:15am
I don't observe Lenten resolutions or the no meat on Friday business, but I've cut my beef consumption by about 80% in the last 2 years from about once a day to once or twice a week, mostly for health but also because it's a pretty gruesome practice. Jesus must be pleased. But I've had no mercy on chickens. I also gave up sodas with sugar entirely almost a year ago with no remorse.
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