Azure -- Re: Going to church

March 11, 2001

Rita said:

> Um -- I ask this sincerely -- what exactly is Lent?

> I know it involves giving up meat on Fridays, and also

> giving up something pleasurable for 40 (?) days, but why?

> When did it start being practiced? - and is it the same

> for Catholics and Protestants?

somebody already gave a url on this, which was pretty complete, but i

thought i'd give a more personal and practical answer.

all things are given by God and all things are good. which is why i

believe so strongly in medical marijuana. food is good, sex is good,

alcohol is good, the poppy plant is good, everything is placed here

for wise and judicious use. that implies a balance. there is a time

to feast and a time to fast. there is a time to enjoy ourselves, and

a time to renounce our immediate gratification for a greater good...

or simply to train our wills.

This was a hard lesson for someone who grew up in the '60s to learn.

(Woodstock '69 led inexorably to Woodstock '99.) nobody can simply

gratify all of their impulses. that leads to weakness and chaos.

athletes, students, dieters, anyone working toward a goal,

necessarily must make decisions and give up peripheral things to get

the one thing they prize.

to momentarily give up a good and wholesome and holy thing, for the

sake of a greater good, makes one stronger. it helps make one more

independent, not " owned " by the pleasurable things, however good,

that we take delight in.

for me, this time of fasting from my internet community is helping me

to see some of the dynamics going on there that i couldn't see

before, and is making me a bit more independent of others' good

opinion of me.

hope this helps.

azure

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