Isn't that the stuff that comes out of your pockets?

::edit:: To those of you who have been trying to access the singleness article from my entry below, I have fixed the link.::

Happy Ash Wednesday!

I've been especially thinking about Lent recently after reading Lauren Winner's book Girl Meets God (she also has good things to say about Scripture, prayer, confession, liturgy, and living in community, so go read it if you haven't already). She talks about how when we give things up, it leaves us "starkly alone with ourselves." It forces us to God and prayer rather than escaping through food, drink, books, internet, or (for me) television. It is about living a deliberately Christian life, preparing our hearts for the coming of Easter and salvation (not that we don't live deliberately Christian lives otherwise). In some ways, it almost makes me want to quote Thoreau: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." He brings to mind the ideas of carefully choosing how I spend my time and deliberately making a daily decision to live well - which for me, is in Christ.

Today in 4th hour, my students asked me a question, and I said something about giving things up for Lent. From the back of the room, I hear, "But we're not Catholic!" Aha! I thought. Golden opportunity to put two of my passions together - teaching and the church year! So I proceeded to explain the church calendar, and how giving things up for Lent was more than just a Catholic church thing. We talked about remembrance, suffering, and refocusing and the reasons for giving things up for Lent. They had some very interesting questions (although I did have to clarify that I was not advocating "works righteousness" - one kid asked if I thought you had to give something up for Lent in order to get salvation) and were very willing to listen. Some were intrigued by the idea of the church putting away "hallelujahs" for Lent and bringing them out for Easter.

Before I got on my soapbox, I asked them what they thought Lent was all about. I got a lot of answers about giving things up for a period of time. However, the best answer came first. One kid raised his hand and said, "Isn't that the stuff that comes out of your pockets?"