The Lenten Season
Wednesday, March 6, 2019 at 08:20AM Are you giving up any glam for Lent?
You’ll see folks with ashes on their foreheads today. Mardi Gras is over and the Lenten season has begun.
Most folks that I know give up things like chocolate, donuts, Twitter… when I was in college, one of my Catholic roommates gave up boys for 40 days because she was just over it. (This seriously happened).
So this morning I got to thinking “I wonder if any of the glam faithful give up their favorite music during Lent?”
I couldn’t do it. I can’t imagine not being able to listen to whatever I want, whenever I want. The thought makes me shudder.
Thoughts?
The Lenten journey begins today, Ash Wednesday. I invite each of you to live this time in an authentic spirit of penance and conversion, like a return to the Father, who awaits us all with open arms.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) March 6, 2019
Reader Comments (29)
As George Carlin once said, “I used to be Irish Catholic but now I’m an American.” from his album, “Class Clown” of which I learned every word when I was 12 shortly after it came out including “The Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television”, which I can still recite at “FedEx Guy” speed!
So, I quit attending mass shortly thereafter in my early teens. This after years of CCD, attending St. Mary’s School and taking Irish Jig classes afterward. Thinking back, my parents never forced the whole “Give up something for Lent” trip on me. It never came up even on Ash Wednesday.
p.s. FUNNY Gary!!! One your MOST hilarious Comments ever, by far!!! And that means REALLY frickin’ FUNNY, because of how hysterically humorous all your comments generally are to begin with!!!
When it was time for confirmation, I balked. I told my mom I couldn't do it and feel good about myself, considering I wasn't sure I believed in all the church taught. I also told her that I didn't think I should take communion anymore. I thought it was disrespectful given my crisis of faith. She promptly marched me to the parish priest for a talk. He and I got along just fine. We talked for close to two hours. When it was all said and done, he told my mom that I was making a mature decision and it was up to me if I wanted to come back to the faith, so to speak. My mom was dumbfounded. But she came to understand the priest's reasoning, and mine.
I went through a period in my life where it felt fashionable to bash my upbringing, including the church I was raised in. And I realize that, contemporaneously, the church has taken a lot of rightful hits for sins of omission and outright lies that protected predators and hurt followers in ways that are hard to fathom, leaving wounds that sometimes never heal. I get it.
I also get all the rage in the world re: religion. I laugh at a lot of the jokes. But I also judge people by their deeds and now view religions in much the same way that William James once did. Religion has done a lot of good and a lot of harm. But people of various faiths, and those without any, have done that too. And I cringe at some very smart people who make sport of mocking religion with a devotion that borders on the religious fervor of those they decry, slight, and demean. Some jokes just aren't that funny when they cast the teller in the light of a fanatic (and that comment applies to no one on this site, mind you).
I know a good many people of faith who live good lives. Same with agnostics (which side? which side?) and atheists. I try to judge them by their merits. I often fail. But I try. That might actually be residue of how I was raised. And if it is, I am okay with that.
If denying yourself something, even something trivial, brings you to a better place (closer to God or closer to your fellow travelers on Earth, or even both), that is good in my book. It is not dissimilar to other faith traditions--Eastern and Western--that see abstaining as a means of understanding. If it is done as a mere ritual and routine, you might want to consider my talk with my priest.
So I chuckle at talk of Cosmic Wizards and all that (and know some deadly jokes about Catholics). But I also see value in what faith represents and the good that it brings out in people around me (not just Catholics).
. . . but back to the question: I could never give up metal. That would be sacrilegious!
@badland been pondering the same question myself..
@Gary you are hilarious...
@MB George Carlin one of my favorites of all time
Have a great day
@Him you are a very wise man...
@MB
I am not Catholic but was raised Greek Orthodox which is similar to the Catholic faith from what I'm told.
I don't give religion much thought. It is not a part of my life. If asked if I believe in a deity, I would say the answer would be negative.
I care about being kind to others, helping people, doing the right thing and being a good person. That's my religion I suppose.
And giving up something you love is ridiculous to me. Life is way too short to deny yourself pleasure and happiness.
So unless I am cutting back on chocolate to drop a few pounds, I follow Paul Stanley's advice generally and that is "You gotta live like you're on vacation". That's a great life motto for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-bzCTozB3s
Rita, that sums my diatribe above up perfectly. Thank you. And you’re correct about Greek Orthodox. My better half is Russian Orthodox and the similarity to Catholicism is easy to see. Everybody who replied to this truly seems to get it. It being treat others with kindness, help as much as you can, and don’t be an asshat.
PS @Him there’s times I truly believe you flush more intelligence every morning than I’ve ever had 😂😂😂😂
HIM, “Do NOT judge and ye shall not be judged.”
So let me just add a coda: a very wise (though flawed) person once said that any metaphysic you read is really, when you boil it down to its essence, an explanation of the yearnings and hopes of the person or persons who wrote it. It explains them and what they see or saw. As an initial guide, it might provide something very useful. But in the long term, if you hold to that too closely, you start to lose a portion of yourself. Reason? All of us are searching for some explanation and rationale. Best that you take the best of what others taught you and fashion it into something that you can use to make practical, meaningful, useful, changes in the world. Make it your own.
I recognize that is bordering on turgid. I also recognize that it is fraught with complications (how does one judge the racist and sexist and homophobe by that breezy standard, or as against any other one that is deemed, by the user, to be right and just?). But it is a starting point. And that is all we really have. A place to start. If we ended up helping others, that can't hurt, regardless (in most cases) the reasons why.
I mentioned William James in my initial post. So I will end with him here and his paraphrase/borrowing from a respected jurist of his era:
"What do you think of yourself? What do you think of the world? . . . These are questions with which all must deal as it seems good to them. They are riddles of the Sphinx, and in some way or other we must deal with them. . . . In all important transactions of life we have to take a leap in the dark.... If we decide to leave the riddles unanswered, that is a choice; if we waver in our answer, that, too, is a choice: but whatever choice we make, we make it at our peril. If a man chooses to turn his back altogether on God and the future, no one can prevent him; no one can show beyond reasonable doubt that he is mistaken. If a man thinks otherwise and acts as he thinks, I do not see that any one can prove that he is mistaken. Each must act as he thinks best; and if he is wrong, so much the worse for him. We stand on a mountain pass in the midst of whirling snow and blinding mist through which we get glimpses now and then of paths which may be deceptive. If we stand still we shall be frozen to death. If we take the wrong road we shall be dashed to pieces. We do not certainly know whether there is any right one. What must we do? 'Be strong and of a good courage.' Act for the best, hope for the best, and take what comes. . . . If death ends all, we cannot meet death better."
I find that quotation inspiring. I will leave it at that. Thanks for putting up with this non-musical digression.
Here’s the news ... and it’s really not news, there’s only one God or spiritual entity that connects us all. Calling karma, if you will.
“Do good by others and they will do well by you” and vice-versa but don’t count on it!
And, by all means, slag on ANY of our Rock & Roll Heroes if they deserve it! Why should they be exempt from the scrutiny the rest of us come under? Who do they think they are? Rock Royalty or something?!