Good Friday

Today is Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, and many Christians will spend the day praying, fasting and reflecting on the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ.

I am working today so I will try to reflect and pray but I will be squeezing it in between my office projects and the usual running around I do in order to keep all the balls in the air.

Good Friday signals that Easter is almost here and that means that the end of Lent is also almost here.

 

That's good news for me because this year for Lent, I gave up chocolate which I totally love, especially when it's been sitting in the refrigerator.

 

 

 

 

I have not eaten chocolate for 45 days.

 

I can't believe it myself.  I didn't think I would make it this long.  I thought I would break my Lenten promise not to eat chocolate and that somewhere in those days before Easter I would eat a bag of M and M's. 

But I didn't.  And I feel a lot better for it. 

A few days before the beginning of Lent, I was beginning to feel powerless over chocolate.  I would eat it and then tell myself that that was it, chocolate wasn't good for me and I wasn't going to eat anymore.

But it didn't work.  The chocolate was talking to me.

Whether it was a chocolate chip cookie or chocolate candies in the kitchen at work, I realized I couldn't keep it up.  I had to put the brakes on the chocolate.  Luckily, Lent came along at just the right time.

 

I have to admit that chocolate did come close to my mouth one or two times.  I was at a party and there was a bowl of wrapped chocolates just sitting there.  Automatically, I put my hand out to take one (or two) and then that little voice inside me said, "You gave it up, remember?  Don't even think about it."

 

Another time I was at my parents and my father loves to nibble on trail mix.  When I was pouring it into a small bowl for him, I did the same thing.  I automatically went for some and then realized there were bits of chocolate mixed in to the nuts and raisins.

 

The idea of giving something up for Lent is symbolic.  Jesus gave up his life for us and the least I can do is try to change a small habit during Lent, right?  You can be creative about Lent.  You don't have to give something up.  Instead, you can try to do something positive such as being more patient or thinking twice before making an unnecessary comment.

 

Whether it's chocolate or kindness, I am glad to have stepped back, reset my actions and taken a break from a bad habit.

 

Who knows. . . Maybe I even earned a little grace along the way, which is always a good thing!

 

 

 

                                                                                      

Simply Notice

Crocus Signaling A New Season

 

The grand essentials in this life are

something to do, something to love,

and something to hope for.

 

           ~ Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

Today is the last day of February and that makes me smile.  I am not one to hurry time along but in this case I am happy to see the arrival of the month of March.  I love a longer day when the sun is warmer and daylight lasts until 8 or 9 o'clock in the evening.

 

I hadn't noticed that the seasons were starting change until the other morning when I had to get out the door extra early to go to work.  As I turned around to lock the front door to my house, I looked to the sky and noticed how much lighter is was compared to a month ago when it would have been pitch dark.  I even heard a few birds in the bare trees alternately chirping to each other.
 

"Wow," I thought. "Spring is almost here and so is daylight savings time. How did that happen?"

 

I welcome it happening.  There is always an amazing feeling of anything being possible when Spring and Summer arrive because people spend more time outdoors and they aren't weighed down by coats and gloves and boots and scarves.  To me, flip flops, shorts and T-shirts represent a sense of freedom.

 

Those days of freedom will indeed come, even though they are not here quite yet.

 

But I see signs of a new season coming: some crocus in a neighbor's front yard pushing through the soft dirt, Easter baskets and Easter eggs for sale in the grocery store and more television and newspaper stories about preparing your lawn for the warmer weather.  Is it time to fertilize?  Is it time to seed?  Can I plant anything in the ground yet?

 

I'm learning to look forward, to appreciate the simple things in life, to understand that I can endure and that the next day or the next season could bring flowers, chocolate. . .or  joy!

 

 

 

 

Chocolate or Kindness?



Finding the Balance of Chocolate and Kindness

Don't let the collar turn you off.

Fr. James Martin is a charismatic Jesuit priest who has a Lenten message that can be appreciated by followers of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Folk Religions and even atheists.

 

It's a simple message but one that is challenging for people (myself included) to practice.  And it doesn't have to be Lent to make it happen.  We can practice his message any time of the year.

 

Lent is traditionally a time when Catholics give up something.  But suppose instead of giving up chocolate (that would be me) or alcohol or potato chips, you decided to do something good?  Why something good?

 

Because it is soooo much harder to stay quiet and not say the smart remark that first pops into your head when you are talking to a co-worker or a relative than it is to walk past the bowl of M&M's.

Listen and dare to try it out: