Let's Give It Up!

This first appeared in the March, 2014 edition of the Wheatland Parish newsletter.  Even though Lent has already started, it's not too late to do this.

            Do you give something up for Lent?

            It’s a tradition, after all.  Lent, as many of you know, is supposed to be a time of prayer, repentance, and sacrifice.  Although Lent is not mentioned in the Bible, it seems to have started to be celebrated very early in the history of the Christian church.  Originally, it was supposed to be a time of fasting.  Now, we don’t fast much, but there still is a tradition of giving something up for Lent, something that’s going to be a sacrifice for us.

            To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever done that.  I never really saw the point, actually.  How’s it going to make me a better person, how’s it going to bring me closer to God, to give up something that I enjoy?  I could not see how it would.  So, while I have certainly supported the rights of others to give things up for Lent, it’s not something that I’ve personally done.

            But this year, I thought, “Maybe I could give this a point.  Maybe I could give up something, and take the money I’m saving by giving it up and give it to some sort of worthy cause or goal.”

            So, that’s what I’m going to do this year.  I’m going to give up Diet Coke.  Maybe that doesn’t seem like much of a sacrifice to you, but I really like my Diet Coke.  There are very few days that go by that I don’t have at least one, sometimes more.  When I drive out of town somewhere, I grab a Diet Coke to drink on the way.  When I go to a ball game, I have a Diet Coke.  When I go out to the Manor to visit, I have a Diet Coke.  I suspect I’m going to be surprised at how much money I’m spending on Diet Coke, and how much I’m going to save by not buying it.

            That’s not the only benefit I’m going to get, of course.  While drinking Diet Coke is not sinful, and I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world to do, it’s hard to argue that it’s actually good for me.  I suspect I’ll see some health benefits from giving up Diet Coke, too.

            I challenge each of you to do the same thing.  Give up something you spend money on, something you enjoy, for the period of Lent.  Then, take the money you save, and give it to a worthy project or cause of some sort.  In fact, in discussing this with some people, we’ve come up with some things we’d like you to give the money to.

            In Gettysburg, we’d like you to take the money you’re saving and give it to the church construction fund.  In Onida, we’d like you to take the money you’re saving and donate it to the community swimming pool project.  In Agar, we’d like you to take the money you’re saving and give it to the volunteer fire department.

            I don’t know how much money we’ll raise with this.  I suspect, though, that like me, you’ll think of something that you don’t really need and that you’re spending a lot more money on than you realize, and you’ll be quite surprised at how much you save by not doing it.  If, like me, you can think of something to give up that’s not particularly good for you anyway, so much the better.

            If giving up something for Lent helps you be a better person and brings you closer to God, that’s great.  If, though, you’re like me and need a little push to get you to do it, let this be the push you need.  Let’s all give up something for Lent and help out our churches and help out our churches and communities at the same time.