“Welcome, dear feast of Lent”

“Welcome, dear feast of Lent,” wrote George Herbert in a poem on the subject.  Of course, it is not a feast but a fast.  But I know what Herbert means.  Lent, even when celebrated by fasting, gives us lots to feast upon.

I love Lent, which begins today.  I get so tired of my constant self-indulgence.  It really is a form of bondage.  I find Lent strangely liberating.  I don’t do any grand renunciations or meritorious deeds.  Maybe I can work up to those some year.  Right now I just watch what I eat and exercise.  All I do is live more healthily than I usually do.  I can do that for 46 days.  And usually I can carry over a few good habits into the rest of the year.  But saying “no” to myself–not eating the empty carbs even though I’m hungry; keep walking even though my muscles start to ache–is good for me on many levels.