I’m sure it’s quite the sacrifice…

Unfortunately this post is hitting an untimely sore spot as I’ve just had one person give me the “stop being a wuss and make a REAL sacrifice” stink-eye when the topic of Lenten sacrifices came up.  But what I pledged to do turned out to have another layer to it that I didn’t realize at the time I committed to it.  Now this could be the most spiritually enriching Lent I’ve had ever (as opposed to being difficult).  I’ll probably be repeating this “wussy sacrifice” for years to come.

Very few things are like being nailed to a cross.  From my chair, giving
up chocolate or TV seem far more cliche than giving up Facebook.  But I don’t eat much chocolate and we don’t have TV.  That doesn’t make it any less of a thorn for the other guy who enjoys staying up to date with his/her favorite shows.  Giving up diet coke?  I don’t care what anyone says.  That is on the same level as sleeping on the floor every night with some self-flagellation for good measure.

I suppose the real question is “Yes, but what are they doing with the time they aren’t spending on facebook?  Are they praying more?”.  Well…all I can say is that a lot of people take many years to figure out that Lent is more than giving up something.  It took me almost two decades to figure it out. But I also know that while giving up something alone is not the ultimate in fulfillment, it certainly isn’t wrong.