It's a snowy day. No delay, though. I'm at the Rohs St. Cafe, drinking "Celtic Breakfast" tea. I'm trying to cut down on my major voluntary toxins, in preparation for Lent...
Now I'm not a big Lentster. My view of religion is focused mainly on my lack of obedience to Jesus' words about the poor, lonely, prisoner, cold/naked... So observing the days of the calendar of the church isn't a high priority to me... I feel guilty indulging in ritual and symbol when there's such a need for justice and reform in my life... Isaiah and Amos really nailed this stuff. So did the rest, especially Jesus...
So, I'm still contemplating an observance of Lent. Fasting is the probability, but there's a trip to Madrid in the middle of it. How am I to go to Madrid without piggin out? I mean, it'd be immoral not to taste that city...
but Lent isn't just about food. It's about self-denial. It's for Remembering. Remembering that we live in relief. That we've been rescued. That we are not our own. That our debt to Christ is a debt to each other. That Isaiah 58 thing...that fasting has less to do with food than giving away to the least of these-the brethren of Jesus...
So, I'm pondering lent...
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I might submit that "indulging in ritual" is a method to approach justice and reform. C.S. Lewis suggested the method of fasting was like a soldier practing with blank ammo prior to actual engagement. Resisting simple pleasures gives us "practice" for resisting more complex ones.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought....
Anyway, Jesus fasted, and we want to be like him right?
-jjs