Give it Up

I've tried talking about Lent here before. I was going to do an entire series over the course of Lent last year, but... that didn't quite work out.  It took about three days for me to fall out of habit, which not only resulted in an inadvertent AND unfortunate biblical parallel, but also was quite embarrassing.  I had ideals, and I had plans to blog more, be a better person, all that jazz.

Okay, so the blogging thing might have fallen through a bit, but it's not like things didn't change.  During that time, I was going through the normal teenage routine of questioning friendships, feeling at a loss for purpose in life, and just being plain depressed (which might or might not have been because I was also listening to Pink Floyd's The Wall nearly daily during this time frame).   Of course, even though I didn't quite live up to the promises I made for myself, the blogging thing in particular, I do believe that I made changes.  I went to Happening, and got a huge soul-lifting and getting-on of Jesus. I made some new friendships and mended some old ones.  I got a chance to get back on the stage and perform Spirit of Radio in a packed Wild Wing Cafe (which might or might not have changed me as a person, but it sure as hell felt good).

So, what does all this mean for this year? Well, I've already done some housekeeping on this blog by reverting some old posts to draft status, and I hope to replace that stock photo of windmills in the background with something nicer, like, I dunno... Westminster Abbey?  That said, I'm not making blogging the highest priority for this season; I rather hope that it will be a by-product of the time for devotion that I'm freeing up.  See, I once said that Lent is one of four things to most people (or, I actually think it should be five).

1. A exercise program for 40 days featuring Jesus as the personal trainer. (Side note: picture Jesus being played by Richard Simmons in one of these things).
2. "Oops, I already botched my New Year's resolutions. Let's try that again."
3. Giving something you really like simply because, well... uh... if I like it, it must be bad right?
4. UUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH MORE RULES. SERIOUSLY, GOD?
5. What's Lent?

The real point of Lent is to give things up only if you think that they separate you from God somehow and think that time away from these things will truly give you time to reflect and develop.  For instance: don't try to give up cussing just because people say its bad and you want to develop a holier-than-thou persona, but do give it up if you think that profanity is truly a problem and you believe that some time not using it would make you a lot less angrier.  So, think about what is really is building a wall between you and God in life.  If you can't think that far, then take the next step down and think about what is separating you from your friends and loved ones.  It isn't always easy, but if you're willing to at least try (as well as accept failure if you find that you can't follow through), then it's a resolution that's worth it.  (Also, you can technically have whatever you give up on Sundays during Lent, but they don't really tell you that).

So with that being said, I'd like to share the decision I'm making:

I'm giving up Twitter.

This is going to be a big change, and I have debated this heavily with my peers and mentors. Giving up twitter will clear out a lot of space for me to reflect and try and live up to the promise of developing a relationship with Christ that is Lent.  It opens up time for me to appreciate things I might not have before, and clears my mind to focus more on Christ. I could finally get around to those CS Lewis books I have sitting untouched on the shelf. I could get into good habits of working and spend more time praying and thinking.  I could post more reflections here on my blog.  And I could spend more time actually building relationships and talking to people, instead of depending on the not-as-fulfilling surrogate Twitter and other social media sites tend to be.

I say all this in light of the fact that although I decried it and mocked it in my earlier days, I've grown rather fond of Twitter. The witty tweets from comedic pages, the commentary of all the sports games, and the fun exchanges I've had with my colleagues.  I'm not even going to guarantee that I won't bail out, or at least try and follow that Sunday caveat I mentioned earlier.  But this will give me much more time to reflect, and find new perspectives that I might not have expected.

Regardless, I'm playing it by ear for the rest of Lent, and seeing what happens.  I'll try and post more reflections here, and I hope that I could possibly be an example for others.  There were a lot of details I omitted, and those should come around in later days.  That's about all I got, so, let the 40 days begin. Let's do this.  LEEEEEROOOY JENKINS!