The Lenten Saga: Day 1

So today was a long day! From getting up early, to getting to church, and getting "ashed!" to several meetings, working out, fighting my electronic equipment in the lab since it wants to act crazy (I am slowly winning that battle! hehe), and then, get this... BACK to church to sing with the choir! 

Today marks the first day of Lent, a period of fasting and abstaining, calling to mind our sinfulness and our call to repent from our ways. So this year, I have decided to challenge myself way more than I have done in previous years. Now I will not go any further in terms of what I have given up, or what I have committed to, but it is a decent sized list. I know this: I would not have attempted this during the OSU or Southern Cal years, period! Since I have a normally routine schedule, I can establish a little bit more discipline, with ease. 

I really want to take this time before Easter and REALLY answer some tough questions, not only about the faith, but about my life. Where is it heading? Why am I single? What is my current assignments in my career preparing me for? Where are my friends? How badly do I want certain things? How long will I be here (Containment Area..... okay, Earth as well)? What better way to seek clarity, than to seek out the Lord and Savior in my daily devotions? So during this time, I will make a stronger, more concentrated effort (in addition to what I am currently doing), to deepen my relationship with Christ. With the help of the church, and those who wish to help me, I will either find my answers, or will be on the path to finding my answers.

So says this Yankee! Let the Lenten Journey Begin!

Countdown to Ash Wednesday!

T-minus 2 days! Oh my goodness, the week of weeks (lol) is upon me! O woe is me, what am I to do!?! 

Okay, enough melodrama. Today I talked to a couple of fitness experts about the upcoming lenten season, and how I told them that I really want to follow the Lenten rules, which requires fasting, which requires 2 small meals and 1 large meal, where the small meals put together can not equal the large meal. So my question to them: What is an example of a large meal/small meal? and What else should I do to make this lenten process, health-friendly, while still maintaining my exercise regimen, and not dying in the process. So after we had that discussion, we established what large/small meals meant. We also acknowledged the fact that I may need to take more supplements during this time, to make sure I am getting my daily values of certain vitamins/minerals. 

I am looking forward to the challenge I have set before myself. I have observed Lent every year. During college, grad school, and even now. But I have never took it to this level. I am giving up A LOT of things. I have also made new commitments for the Lenten period, including new church and exercise commitments, and I am not talking about the Caterpillar Challenge or the intense 3-day/wk weight training! I have never pushed myself to this limit before, because I have never tried to push myself to this limit before. And I am going to see if I get some divine inspiration during this period of fasting, prayer, fellowship, and focusing on the "Kingdom Coming" and not on the "Kingdom Having Come." That is one of the many points of Lent. 

Fat Tuesday is tomorrow! I heard there was something going on at Champps. I might check it out!

Treachery, Faith, and the Lenten Journey Ahead

So today, while I was taking a break after successfully running one of my tests (el YAY!!!) I came across a link to a website that had a very interesting cartoon.

The link is: http://www.nypost.com/delonas/delonas

The cartoon depicts two cops and a dead monkey, shot by one of the officers. Then, one of the cops says "They'll have to find someone else to write the new stimulus bill."

Lets just pause for a second and use the context clues that you should have learned back in elementary school. We have

#1. An African American (Black) President who pushed for a 'stimulus' bill.
#2. A Dead Monkey after being shot by some cops
#3. Two officers (that look Caucasian): one with a gun in his hand, the other saying "They'll have to find someone else to write the new stimulus bill."

If anyone knows their history, especially about the plight of African Americans, then you should also know of the deep racial hatred that this cartoon represents. To add further insult to injury, this is what the cartoonist said on CNN while I was at the Gym starting my weight training:

"It's absolutely friggin ridiculous. Do you really think I'm saying Obama should be shot? I didn't see that in the cartoon. The chimpanzee was a major story in the Post. Every paper in New York, except The New York Times, covered the chimpanzee story. It's just ridiculous. It's about the economic stimulus bill. If you're going to make that about anybody, it would be Pelosi, which it's not."

Just to let you know, the chimpanzee story and the economic stimulus bill are two mutually exclusive events... Or, put in another way, have nothing to do with each other. So to portray a dead monkey, and talk about the stimulus bill, is to talk about our nations President. To deny that monkeys represent Black people is to deny America's racist past.

This is treacherous, and is a reminder of how far we still have to go as a nation. If I am to follow what is said in the great book, then as I say my prayers for the evening, I will throw in a special one for the cartoonist. I do not know what to say, but I will let it flow before I go to sleep tonight. Obama talked a lot about hope and faith. Basically the two are intertwined. We can not, we must not allow stuff like this to divide us further. If you are angry about this cartoon, you are not alone. I was angry about it, not anymore. Get your anger out, pray about it, if you are into prayer, forgive, if you have the courage to. Forgive them for their ignorance. Forgive them for their lack of judgment. Forgive them because that is what the Lord has taught us.

On another note, Ash Wednesday is one week away, and I am preparing for a Lenten Journey that will really test my faith and rock me to my core! I am talking about taking things to a whole new level in terms of what to give up! And I will be giving up a lot! I have not finalized my list, but it is going to be extreme! I will explain more about it when Ash Wednesday comes!