Thoughts over dinner.

So dinner with the family was amusing. Instead of the usual talk of sports or politics, we had my grandfather (not the one I blogged about previously, the OTHER one) ad his friends as the point of the evening.

My dad remembered a time wherein he had to spend Good Friday with his dad and his dad's friends (composed of a spiritual Jesuit and some Philosophical ivy league smart-asses) over in their mountain cottage project called Tanay. They were having barbecued pork and chicken among other things. My father asks "Why are we having pork dad? Shouldn't there be fasting and abstinence?"

Thus came the birth of the Fasting and Abstinence Conspiracy. According to one of my grandfather's friends, fasting and abstinence had begun with a need. Jesus addressed that need by encouraging his followers to eat fish on Fridays. The need?

Remember ladies and gents, the apostles were poor fishermen.

Have you ever seen the movie Chocolat? With Johnny Dep?

Yeah that one. Watching it made me realize something. During lent, it isn't quite what you take away or keep away from that is the point. It's what you're giving. Yes Lent is there to help us understand what Christ went through.

But let's try turning things around a little. Christ's denying temptation and eventual death and Resurrection wasn't about the suffering he went through! It was about the salvation he was giving us. What does this tell us?

Lent is all about the giving folks. Not the taking away. So you can't not eat meat on Fridays. That should be fine. Find a poor hungry man to eat meat with you. You can't not have sweets? Make sure you have enough to share then.

Nothing wrong with the usual sacrifices. Just understand why you are doing them. Personally, I give up all meat for the duration of Lent. It's tough, as I'm a carnivore. But that's fine. My mindset is, if I become more like Jesus giving up meat for a bit, then that's cool. Also, it never hurts to lower my carbon footprint by keeping away from burgers for a while.

Ours is a positive religion, so don't take away. Give.