Lent

This is how I celebrated the end of Lent (otherwise known as Easter) last year. Ya'll remember Lent, right? You're supposed to give up something. I know a lot of people who take the opportunity improve themselves through denial. Hence, they give up smoking or dessert or soda, or something similar. Inevitably they end up healthier and/or happier if they're able to stick with it. But I'm not so sure that doesn't miss the point. Giving up something is only one of three ways to traditionally observe Lent. The others involve taking on a discipline, such as prayer, and giving, usually to the poor. The point of all of this, it seems to me, is to connect us with the historical Jesus Christ and remind us of a time when it our faith was not protected, indeed was punished, by the State. I'm not clear how giving up chocolate makes that connection. People have frequently commented that the things I give up are silly, or crazy. But there is a method to it. One year I gave up forks. Another year I gave up not shaving (I had to shave everyday). Another year I gave up talking on the phone with my left ear held to the reciever. (I always coupled this with a prayer at the point of temptation. Thus, whenever I started to put the phone up to my left ear-a habit which I never broke-I stopped and said a little prayer.) The point is, they were all daily, constant reminders, and this seemed to work better for me than other things I had tried such as giving up soda which gave me the shakes during the first few days but was ultimately very easy after I adjusted my lifestyle and got rid of all the soft drinks in the house...remove the temptation. But I just couldn't do that with forks. I was eating at the school dining hall at the time and we passed the silverware on our way into every meal. Hey, different things work for different people. So what am I giving up this year? Sleeping more than 7 hours at a time. That's right. For the next 40 days I'll only sleep about 7 hours a night. I might take naps during the day, but probably not any more than I do right now. And each time I yawn, I'll be saying a little prayer for all the people for whom poverty, fear, or other circumstances dictate that they never get to choose their sleeping schedules. What about ya'll? What are ya'll going to give up?