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TagsBY PAM LOBLEY
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
NOW THAT’S FUNNY
Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of the season of Lent for the Catholic Church – the season of penance. It is one of the two days of the year in which Catholics are asked to fast. The other day is Good Friday.
Fasting is kind of in vogue now, as a health thing. There are juice fasts, and power fasts, and all kinds of fasts which are embraced for various cleansing reasons. People who commit themselves to these fasts always talk about how hard it is, how awful it is for the first few days, and then how wonderful and enlightened they feel afterward. Then they go back to eating whatever they were eating before and, I assume, just reclog themselves until next time.
Fasting is an act for penance – in most cases, penance for eating or drinking too much. Since, as a culture, we worship physical appearance, the body becomes a proving ground for good and evil.
But fasting on Ash Wednesday is not nearly that harsh. You are allowed one full meal that day (no meat) and two small meals with no snacks. Sounds like a sensible diet plan. I’m pretty sure that’s how Al Roker lost his weight.
Fasting on Ash Wednesday is designed to make you more aware and alert, perhaps clarifying your thinking and opening yourself to prayer and reflection. It is, ideally, a way to slow down and keep an ear out for God. Because, normally, you might not hear Him over the sound of the chips bag ripping.
I have two boys: a teen and a preteen. Eating is constant at my house. We try some new yogurt, we love the yogurt, the yogurt goes on sale so I buy ten of them, then two days later we don’t like that kind anymore. Is there any oatmeal?
Of course there’s oatmeal. There is everything. There are bananas, grapes, Chex Mix, microwave popcorn, a piece of homemade cake, milk, ramen, crackers, fresh mozzarella, Hot Pockets, and yes, yogurt. We are lucky that we can take plentiful food for granted.
During Lent, we Catholics also give up meat on Fridays. I wish I could tell you this was a sacrifice, but it turns into shrimp fest at my house. My husband loves seafood, and this is just the excuse he needs to blow the grocery budget on oysters or sushi.
The pleasure and availability of constant, delicious food can be numbing. For the Church, fasting is designed to bring you closer to God. It’s a way to remind ourselves that life should not be just a continual glide through the comfort zone. Be a little hungry, pay a little attention, stop eating long enough to make some room in your life for silence, for awe, for the mystery.
Pam Lobley writes the “Now That’s Funny” column. Sign up for her mailing list at www.pamlobley.com.
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You redeem yourself a little with your final paragraph, but alas, it comes a little too late.