The Joy of a Productive Cough

You never really know how crappy you feel until you start feeling better.

I have never been so happy to cough up phlegm in my life.

The antibiotics seem to be doing the trick in moving the gunk that has been clogging my lungs for the past few months. I hope it continues to work it's magic and rids my body of the goo.

Yesterday I posed a question about Lent on Facebook. I've never really given up anything for Lent because to be honest I've only ever been a half-assed  church goer and I don't really understand it all.

I asked what people do for Lent - do they give up things? etc...
I got some thoughtful responses. Some people give up things and start doing things.

here are a few responses I got...

Giving things up for lent seems a bit mechanical. Lent comes from the notion that the days are getting longer - LENGTHENING = LENT With that notion comes the idea of cleaning - cleansing. I see it as a time to look at what is in excess that I as a person of privilege have. it is an issue of justice - making sure people have the right to vote, access to shelter [home], healthcare, - seeing a movie like 12 years a slave, or Phillomenia [sp] working at the feeding program etc. a good way of cleansing.



I like the changing seasons of the church year. They help me think about life and faith from multiple angles. So, for me Lent is kind of like Deb's in that I use it for more intentional deeper reflection and self-evaluation. By deciding to do that, yep, I end up giving up a lot of those little things that distract and numb along the way. Some of those things come back over time and other things just fade away.



I.love.Lent because it provides an opportunity to do (or not) something for a finite amount of time to see what difference this intentional change makes. My practice is to take one thing up + put one thing down for these 6 weeks. The cool thing about the giving up part is when I chose something I've really started to overuse, I get the chance to practice discipline. When I find myself habitual reaching for that thing, it's a chance to say a short prayer, something like 'thank you God for the many ways you fill my deepest hunger.' Yes, giving up chocolate can be super silly, but the years I have done so have shocked me: I had no.idea.how.frequently I was using it to soothe or numb. Ditto FB, beer, other stuff. As in most things, it's all about intention. Oh, and keeping my practice mostly private helps me put the focus on God, not me.

It gives me something to think about.

I ordered a Lenten devotional book (which has yet to arrive).. it has daily meditations... I'm going to work on being mindful in my actions. I am also going to wean myself on caffeine (holy crap). I think it's doing a number on my tummy... we shall see if it helps.

Okay - that was a random blog post - but that's okay.

I'm starting to feel as though my feet are under me. That's good.