Today is the first day of Lent, the Christian observation of the 40 days before Jesus Christ’s resurrection, marked by Easter.
The Catholic Lenten tradition* involves some sort of fast or abstinence from a pleasurable activity during these 40 days, as a minor attempt to understand the struggle of Jesus’ final days and to build our self-restraint in a world bent on pleasure and external happiness.
*(I can’t speak towards other Christian traditions.)
Looking around, it’s evident that most people shun the idea of self sacrifice as improvement.
We live in a society that embraces comfort above all else. I see people wearing sweatpants at work. Food is always available; entertainment is prized above advancement; soft-soled tennis shoes made in sweatshops sell in the thousands to Americans who claim to care about local minimum wages.
Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t claim any moral high ground here. I too am hypocritical — sorry to tell you but I did take a hot shower last week, I missed a few emails recently, I’m not always as fearless as I’d like to be, I’ve hurt friends in my ongoing search for truth.
The point is, we all have room to improve. I’m not so sure people want to improve, however, if it involves sacrifice.
I often discuss that our focus — the inputs to our brain — determine our outputs. So long as our inputs encourage consumeristic self-comfort, our outputs — our behaviors and conversations — will reflect exactly that.
As Matthew 12:34 says,
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
Be well, and with love,
Jeffrey