Self- ImproveLent

Lent began on Wednesday, prompting the annual sacrifice of something we love. After a week-long back-and-forth process of thought as to what we should sacrifice, most people end up sacrificing sweets, chocolate, soda, and other edible novelties we have come to rely on for survival.

The thing we give up is supposed to be something we get pleasure from and the absence of it from our lives is supposed to help us understand the suffering Jesus went through and the sacrifice he made for us. According to Wikipedia, the 40 days of Lent "represent the time that, according to the Bible, Jesus spent in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan."

In recent years, I have come across many people--and am personally responsible for doing the same--who give up something that isn't really as much of a sacrifice as it is a self-improvement. For example, this year my roommate and I both gave up swearing (because we wanted to be better people) in addition to her sacrifice of sweets and mine of hard alcohol (mostly because it always leads to bad decisions and it will help me save money when I go out). My other roommate gave up going to certain parties.

While all these things the three of us gave up are indeed sacrifices, the reasons we chose them are more along the lines of resolutions to better ourselves and to purify our lives. Perhaps we decided to ditch them now because these Lenten promises seem more binding than a New Year's resolution. We always break a resolution after two months without consequence along with a shrug and an "oh well, at least I tried" attitude. However, if we break a Lenten offering, we fear the wrath of God and eternal banishment to Hell.

Photo: Me and Steph enjoying some delicious margaritas.

Putting it this way is being a little dramatic, but why is it that we engage in this type of behavior? For the sake of not sounding too preachy or religious, why do we use the 40 days of Lent as a period of self-improvement? What about the other 325 days in the year?

Am I completely missing the point of Lent by giving up alcohol and swearing? (wow, I sound like a real upstanding citizen...) Maybe I should start going to church out here and ask a priest that question. Perhaps Lent exists to remind us that we take certain indulgences for granted. Unless the overall idea of purifying one's life and ridding it of conveniences and novelties (even if it is just one) is indeed the lesson. Either way, I might come out a better person by Easter and that might be the whole point.

Philosophy aside, temptation stared me straight in the face last night, but I resisted the taste of vodka and censored myself while singing along to the rap songs playing in the bar (okay, so a few curse words slipped...but I was more aware of my actions). Do I feel like a better Christian? Not necessarily, but it's only Day 3.

It took God seven days to make the world. Rome wasn't built in a day. I have some time to figure it out.