OK, so here it is again: Lent. I’m not Christian, but I like Lent, as explained here and here. I haven’t yet decided what to do for it this year. I’d better decide soon.
I haven’t been feeling all that Lent-y, thoughtful, or spiritual lately. A lot of what’s been going on in the country makes me want to strangle people or whack some of them upside the head. Are there so many greedy, unethical, and selfish people that they can send the entire national economy down the toilet? I guess the answer is “Yes.”
Bummer.
So anyway, Lent is a time of reflection and it seems that a lot of what I reflect about is how things suck. Maybe I need to stop being a newsaholic because most of what’s on the news is about layoffs, the Democrats and Republicans throwing spitballs at each other, layoffs, companies closing, layoffs, and CEO’s heading to Washington, D.C. for more bailout money. And listening to the DP Show I hear about average athletes making six-figures to around a million while Manny spurns the Dodgers’ offer of $45 million. True, we’re still in the throes of winter; maybe things won’t feel so bad once spring rolls around. But it’s not like the economy is going to perk up when we hit the vernal equinox. If there’s a time that cries out for fortitude, internal strength, and maybe even spirituality, it’s now.
I can’t for the life of me remember what I did for Lent last year. I usually write about it in my journal or mention it here. Whatever I did, if I did anything at all, it mustn’t have been very memorable. I’ve been pretty crabby lately (re the economy, my job, looking for a new one); maybe if I exercised I would feel better. But just exercising every day sounds mundane and not profound enough of an activity for Lent. I might hit AmericanCatholic.org again; the daily Lenten feature is a good way to take a timeout away from the daily grind and think about things.
I’m only about a week late now, so all is not lost. I’ll give myself one more day to decide how I will spend Lent.
