This morning, I saw that many of my Facebook friends have given up something for Lent: soda, carbohydrates, sweets. One of my online friends wondered what to give up (he hadn’t decided yet.)
I pray that each of these people will find their Lenten sacrifices to be a good work. As for me, I’m not giving up a thing. Remembering to avoid eating something is just one more item for my to-do list: a list that’s impossible enough as it is.
It’s a woman thing.
To Do
Here’s what I mean: in today’s America, being a woman means sacrificing all the time. It means cutting important meetings short so you can get to your kid’s dance recital… and then scooting out of the dance recital so you can cook dinner. It means worrying obsessively over the foods that enter your mouth. It means a to-do list that looks something like this:
getgroceries-takecupcakestodaycare-getprescriptions-walkdog-buynewmakeup-putonmakeup-makepresentationformeeting-typenotesfrommeeting-callBobBillandSally-return20emailsbynoon-paybills-vaccum-dolaundry-packforbusinesstrip-mop-cleanuptoys-checkfacebook-getorganized.
Even if you have a great husband like mine who does tons of things around the house, there is always the feeling that you’re sacrificing something important, and that you need to do more.
Organizing helps to some extent, but it can become an obsession in itself. I have good days (and lots of bad days) with organizing, and overall it holds very little spiritual meaning for me.
So my Lenten discipline is To Be. To be a Type B, you could say. Someone who is fully present in the moment, not someone who is ticking off “what’s next” while pretending to listen.
I will let Jesus be the Doer. After all, he was best at it! Even on my best days I can’t feed five thousand people from a few loaves and fishes.
I do want Jesus to teach me how to become a “Be-er” (not a beer!) instead of a Doer. He was really good at being too.
The to-do list stretches on into eternity. Yet the moments of being and presence are fleeting.
I AM, teach me how to be. Amen.
Pastor2K 