Will he ever shut up?!?!

Yep...the creeping crud has reared its ugly head once again. Now, it's gone viral...which has finally gotten me on an antibiotic, so maybe we'll kill this thing once and for all.

Sara was snotting and hacking pretty bad for the past week, but appears to be on the upswing now. Bethany, has her usual snot and cough going, as her pre-school friends continue to just pass it around on a regular basis. The true miracle is our little "Miracle", Deb remains healthy as a horse (though with no physical resemblance of said animal). I told her that's ok...our house can survive with me sick, but we'd surely parish if she became ill. (Re: the "Miracle" reference, for those who don't know..."Miracle" was Deb's maiden name).

So it's officially lent...which has nearly lost all of its (specialness?) since I left the Catholic Church some 13 years ago. Don't get me wrong, I do not regret nor think even slightly wrong of my decisions of faith that I have made. With all the major faults I have with the Catholic Church, I can honestly say there are some things they do leaps and bounds better than protestant and non-denominational churches I've been involved with. Lent is one such thing.

Although the (at the time) mandated tradition of fasting from meat on Fridays during lent was one such seemingly hypocritical point that helped me leave Catholicism...after maturing and growing, both spiritually and mentally, I miss the kind of attention and pageantry things like lent and the run up to Christmas held. They may have been man-made rituals...but they were Reverent and Special and did help you focus more on Christ during those times.

Sometimes I feel the protestant, reformation and restoration movements are so afraid of "looking Catholic" that they go too far the other way...so that these special times lack the intensity, retrospection and reverence that should be felt with their observances.

Now my problem with a lot of the catholic mandated rituals is that if you asked 10 Catholics why they don't eat meat on Fridays during lent, 8 of them would say "because I'm catholic". Most don't (I know I didn't, the household I was raised in didn't, all of my catholic friends and acquaintances didn't) understand or "get" the significance of the "fast". Therefore it merely becomes a "religious" thing to do (see old post on "religious people").

Now, with that said, I must admit that I love my catholic brethren, because of this: You can't swing a cat in this town with out hitting an all you can eat fish fry or sea food buffet on Fridays during lent! While I am "chief of the sinners" when it comes to taking full advantage of the AYCE Buffet...what's the point of not eating meat on Fridays, when you go to "Big Boy" for dinner and have to remember to wear your "stretchy pants" because you're about to gorge yourself on deep fried goodness. Some fast, eh? Like the Muslims, who "fast" during the daylight hours of Ramadan, then feast once the sun goes down. What's the (spiritual) point?

Now...fasting is not only scriptural, it's a commandment, necessary for spiritual growth, recommended to get response to prayer, exemplified for us by Jesus, and required for a whole other host of reasons. I won't go into defining the spiritual fast, I think we all know about that...simply said, it doesn't have to mean abstaining from food, period. It can be certain foods, it can be certain things, it can be certain activities. Either way, the point should be to "Fast" or abstain from something that will, as a result, help you to focus more on God.

I think our worship minister at church hit the nail on the head. If you can't literally find something that has obviously taken the place of Christ in your life, is there something that is keeping you from spending as much time in study or prayer as you should? Where are there "Time and Attention Stealers" and "Energy Grabbers" in your life that you could thin out. OK...right now we're all (myself included) saying, "Alright God, relieve me of my Children for a couple hours a day and I'll find the time". That's the typical response we get in our culture. But under deep examination, I'm sure we can all find something that we "chose" to do that steals our time, attention and energy.

For me, I have already found in a very short time, one such thing is T.V. I have a three page rationalization for you to read if you're interested...but I doubt it. It's all a bunch of crap anyway. For lent I am attempting to do this: 1. Limit myself to 2 hours of TV per day (2 HOURS! Not a BIG sacrifice here!) and 2. When given the choice/control, only Christian music.

After much inspection, I have noticed when we are at home, that freakin' T.V. is on from 6 am to 11 pm. THAT'S 17 HOURS!!! Now mind you, collectively between the three of us (Sara's not interested yet), there's probably only someone watching for a little more than half that time...but that's still disgusting. And when I'm not at home, I'm listening to music...in the car, at work. Until now, 10-20 percent of that may have been Christian music (it didn't use to be that way...but it has become that way...that I need/want to change).

What I have found in the first week (a lot of this is "duh"):

1. Wow...THAT is a LOT of noise! Pretty hard to hear that "Still, Small Voice" with all that noise, eh?

2. I watch TOO MUCH T.V. - Even at two hours a day, I can easily fill that time with the "couple of shows I watch"...i.e. CSI, Medium, American Idol, Survivor, Criminal Minds, My Name is Earl, The Office. That's eight hours a week right there. Thank God for TIVO, that I can record some shows on one night and watch them on another so that I don't miss anything (sarcastic tone applied there, but it does beg the question...what's the spiritual point to the fast again?).

3. I DO have time to read! I have been complaining that I've had 4 books started for the last year and a half, and haven't had time to finish them. In the past week, I've read a novel and nearly the whole Book of Acts...all with very limited effort.

4. I DO have time to enjoy the Christian radio shows I used to listen to! I've heard no less than 6 excellent sermons/studies, and a couple hours of thought provoking Christian talk radio.

Now, some early observations:
1. Have I just replaced the "Secular Noise" with "Christian Noise"?

Yes...but at least it’s heading in the right direction.

2. If yes above, is that necessarily improving your intimate walk with God?

No...but ditto.

At least my mind/ears are filled with thoughts/sounds that reference Christ rather than: "Bid $1 you IDIOT!" or, "Come on Dr. Phil, call him out for the loser that he is!" or, "I wish someone would just turn Iran into a glass parking lot already"...etc, etc.

I guess I see it as someone weaning themselves off tobacco or alcohol dependence. When I quit smoking cigarettes in 1996, I would smoke an occasional cigar to get me through the temptation or back slide (note of confession- I did smoke cigarettes again, but it wasn't because of the cigar connection). Providing this step in the right direction leads to sustainable and meaningful change, does that mean it is right, or worth it, to give it a go?

Anyhow...That's my thoughts at the moment. What do you think? Did ya' give up anything for lent? (Unless it's something you want to keep between you and God) What was it? Care to share? Can we keep each other accountable? Comment or e-mail accepted!

K~