Lent is the 40 days leading up to
Easter. It is a time of reflection and
sacrifice to prepare spiritually for the death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Since Lent is a time of
sacrifice, you often hear people ask, “What are you giving up for Lent?” I struggle each year with this question. When I was younger, this often meant choosing
whether I would give up candy, TV, or soda for the 40 days. As I got older though, I began thinking about
the deeper meaning of the sacrifices we make during Lent. I would question the intentions of others
asking, “Why did you give up _____?” The
answer kept coming back, “Because ____ is unhealthy for me,” but I continued to
see people indulge in whichever delicacy was given up as soon as Easter Sunday
mass was over. It didn’t seem like Lent
was helping people form better habits.
When I got to college, the trend for
Lent was to give up facebook. While I
agree, time spent on facebook can be time wasted, I again questioned the
intention. What were these people
filling their time with instead of facebook for 40 days? Were they cultivating personal relationships
with others in person? Were they setting
aside time in their day for prayer and reflection? Were they using that time to volunteer and
help others? Often times, the answer was
no. It seemed like an empty
gesture.
My favorite Lenten tradition is to buy
a 40 day book of devotionals with scriptures, reflections, and prayers and read
it each night. One year, I focused on
reading the daily mass readings instead of a daily devotional. However since I was adding a good habit
instead of giving something up, it was still difficult for me to answer the
ever popular question of “What are you giving up for Lent?”
This year, I really wanted to focus on
the sacrifice part of Lent. It has been
at least 5 years since I have actually given something up. I struggled because I wanted it to be something
with a purposeful intention. So I turned
to the internet for advice and found this site about what to give up for Lent. One sentence on this
webpage stuck with me.
“Sit down and pray about what has
become a controlling factor of your life. It could easily be a food, activity,
or object.” [Source]
Controlling factor? That sounds so harsh, like something they
would talk about in an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. However after some thought, I figured it
out. Lately for me, I’ve become obsessed
with running and fitness and reading blogs about these subjects. It has led to many late night internet
browsing sessions and honestly was taking a toll on my sleeping schedule. No matter how many times I told myself that I
need to go to bed sooner, I couldn’t pull myself away from the endless tweets
and blog posts. I had already purchased
my Lenten devotional book for 2013 and knew that reading that before bed would
take some time. I couldn’t keep up this nighttime
internet habit/obsession/addiction. So…[drumroll please]…my 2013 Lenten sacrifice is giving up internet use after 10 PM. To some, this may sound like nothing, but to those who stay up reading blogs until late or those who take their smart phone or tablet to bed to scroll through Instagram updates (yes, I know you do this!), it is a struggle. Our society is overrun with technology and we are so often glued to our screens and missing the beautiful simplicities of God’s creation. I believe that by shutting down a little sooner each night, I can improve my relationship with God by creating time for extra prayer before crawling into bed exhausted.
This post is a few days late because of
my new 10:00 rule. It has been different
this week when I have to put down my laptop and phone at 10 PM. I set a daily alarm on my phone to remind me
to turn everything off. It was
especially difficult on Friday and Saturday after I was out late with
friends. I have to remember that
checking my email or posting a picture will have to wait until the
morning. So far, it has been liberating
and my body is thanking me for the sleep.
Plus I am not rushed when I am thinking about each daily
reflection. I know I can keep this up
for 40 days and hopefully continue with the habit far beyond Easter.
Please let me know in the comments, Do
you give anything up for Lent? What are your intentions?
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