{"id":8869,"date":"2019-03-06T09:01:23","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T16:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/?p=8869"},"modified":"2019-03-06T09:03:41","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T16:03:41","slug":"7-things-to-give-up-for-lent-that-actually-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/2019\/03\/7-things-to-give-up-for-lent-that-actually-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Things To Give Up For Lent That Actually Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In years past, I\u2019ve gone vegetarian for Lent. My daughter is one already, so it makes the whole food-prep-and-shopping thing a little easier. But it is more than a token gesture. While the spiritual practices of Lent are meant to promote mindfulness, I balk at the idea of self-deprivation for its own sake. For my money, that amounts to a sanctimonious gesture\u2014something that Jesus frequently warned against in his instructions about how to pray. If I\u2019m going to give up something, I\u2019d like a side of practicality with my mindfulness, please. What can I give up that will have spiritual benefit, while also being good for the world?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going a slightly different way this year. As you may know, my family recently moved from Kansas to Kentucky. Between the weeks of packing up the house; the week of purgatory during which our real estate dealings were delayed and we lived precisely nowhere; and the couple of weeks it has taken to get settled; let\u2019s just say, my family has been eating out A LOT for the past month or so. Like, almost every day. That gets: a) expensive; and b) brutal on the diet. I haven\u2019t stepped on the scale since mid-January. I don\u2019t even want to know.<\/p>\n

So in the interest of the wallet and the waistline, I\u2019m giving up eating out for Lent. Admittedly, I am not vigilant. I\u2019ll keep previously arranged lunch meetings. When traveling, I\u2019ll do what works for the group and not be high maintenance. But for the most part, I\u2019m going to stay away from restaurants and take-out places for the next six weeks. In addition to the health and financial benefits, this practice carries the spiritual benefit of any inconvenience: like the learning of patience; the recognition of other gifts; and the denial of our immediate appetites. Tis the season!<\/p>\n

In that spirit, I\u2019ve drawn up a list of things that we might want to think about giving up\u2014whether for a season or for good. While I\u2019ve long subscribed to the idea of \u201ctaking on vs. giving up,\u201d I\u2019ve recently come back around to seeing the importance of sacrifice. Our lives are full; we are saturated. From stuff to social media to our schedules, we get filled up and buried in, on all sides. Maybe we need different things at different stages of life. Maybe I\u2019m in \u201cgiving up\u201d mode because I just moved and\u2014mercy, we will talk later about the reckoning of stuff and garbage and minutiae that comes with that. In any case: here are some actual, tangible things you could give up that might free up some personal space for you, while also benefiting the planet.<\/p>\n

1. Meat.\u00a0<\/strong>If other countries consumed as much meat as our collective American selves \u2026 everything would be extinct. Including us. There\u2019s science to back me up. The environmental impact of giving it up, even for six weeks\u2019 duration could be huge. You\u2019re cutting the greenhouse gases involved in the industrial feeding of livestock, not to mention the emissions involved in getting your hamburger shipped across the country and your chicken that is\u2014for whatever reason\u2014imported from China. Your individual footprint might not seem that big, but if more of us did this, even short term, it would begin to impact the relentless demands of a carnivorous society, and maybe scale back the whole industry over time. And besides\u2014just think how good that double cheeseburger will taste come Easter.<\/p>\n

2. Take out.\u00a0<\/strong>Ever notice how much garbage is left after that quick breakfast or lunch run through the drive-through? Or even the grocery store salad bar? Running out less makes you more mindful of what you eat, while also cutting back on waste.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. Single-use plastic.\u00a0<\/strong>It takes a little extra effort to remember to grab and fill a water bottle before you leave the house in the morning. But that awareness can also become a spiritual exercise. A moment to be grateful for the privilege of clean, running water; or a reflection on the spiritual properties of water and the body\u2019s need for it. What other \u201csingle use\u201d things can you cut out that might bring more presence to the moment while also producing less trash<\/a>? I read this sobering article about the K-cup problem<\/a>\u00a0and how the inventor of the single-cup brew situation is said to \u201cfeel bad sometimes I ever did it.\u201d And speaking of coffee, maybe we should all \u2026<\/p>\n

4. Give up coffee for Lent.\u00a0<\/strong>Lol, I\u2019m kidding. I\u2019m not a total sadist. But in addition to giving up single-use pods, we might also consider give up\u00a0coffee that is not fair trade.\u00a0<\/strong>Like any other product you consume, it\u2019s important to know the source of your coffee. In many cases, significant justice issues surround the production and sale of coffee. But it is getting much easier to find coffee from sustainable sources. Many of the big guys\u2014even Starbucks\u2014now have fair trade options. Many communities have coffee shops that ONLY buy directly from farmers. And you can always go online and order from Equal Exchange.<\/a>\u00a0Place a small order for your home or order in bulk for your church. In fact\u2014if your church is not already using primarily EE products, talk to your hospitality folks about that, stat. (And when you order, you get to designate a \u201ccoffee project\u201d to support; be sure and select DOC, as in Disciples of Christ; which means that part of the proceeds to go Week of Compassion!<\/a>\u00a0I may be biased \u2026 but there is no better use of your dollar to support sustainable growth around the globe.)<\/p>\n

5. Stuff.\u00a0<\/strong>Having just done a major purge for this big move, I can testify to the fact that most of us have way, way too much junk and clutter. Even after the purge, after the move, there are still boxes in my garage\u2014as yet unpacked\u2014that we could have lived without. I have mixed feelings about the whole \u201cdonate your unneeded things to charity,\u201d because most of the stuff we donate is pretty much garbage that nobody else needs either. However, there is a discipline about reckoning with your stuff; recognizing how much we acquire that we don\u2019t need; clearing space, symbolically and otherwise; and becoming more mindful about what we bring into the house, moving forward. For me, that means also giving up \u2026<\/p>\n

6. Paper.\u00a0<\/strong>It defies belief how much paper was in my house. And is in my new house, already. Between church meetings, junk mail and having two kids in elementary school, I am practically drowning in paperwork. Not to mention\u2014getting new bank accounts, a new mortgage, new insurance, new doctors \u2026 it all comes with miles and miles of paper. Forms, receipts, contracts \u2026 they\u2019re everywhere. Some of it can\u2019t be helped. But what I try to do is: 1) not pick up stuff I don\u2019t need; 2) toss the junk mail into the recycle bin before it even comes into the house; and 3) refrain from printing, whenever possible.<\/p>\n

7. Driving<\/strong>. The notion of a \u201cwalkable city\u201d is a pipe dream, for most of us. Which means the idea of giving up driving entirely is not practical. However, most of us could drive less, if we really thought about it. We make extra trips to the grocery store when we could probably live with what we have. We fail to plan ahead to consolidate errands, so we make extra trips across town. We lack the foresight and intention to carpool when really, we could \u2026 Etc. Take this season to track your mileage and find where you could cut back on both emissions, and the hours of your life spent in the car.<\/p>\n

There. Seven things. Maybe you want to pick one. Maybe you want to try a different one each week. Maybe you are in more of a \u201cprayer and study\u201d season of your life and the idea of giving up something does not seem useful. That\u2019s fine. However you approach this season, whether you are letting go or taking on, I hope it brings you some breathing room, some sacred space, and some blessed emptiness that marks the beginning of something good.<\/p>\n

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In years past, I\u2019ve gone vegetarian for Lent. My daughter is one already, so it makes the whole food-prep-and-shopping thing a little easier. But it is more than a token gesture. While the spiritual practices of Lent are meant to promote mindfulness, I balk at the idea of self-deprivation for its own sake. For my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1154,"featured_media":8878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[27,82,515,9,10],"class_list":["post-8869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-faith","tag-lent","tag-mindfulness","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\n7 Things To Give Up For Lent That Actually Matter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our lives are full; we are saturated. 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