Young Writers Society

Giving up things at Lent isn't about denying yourself things - I think, in a lot of ways, the emphasis has (wrongly) been placed sacrifice - but rather on putting aside as many distractions are possibly between you and God.

See, that was my point when I tried to give up homework in year 6! *shakes head sadly* The teachers tried to all get us to write that we'd give up chocolate or swearing on our religion work sheets. They're just so caught up in the consumer side of things they can't understand the religious perspective.

I'm not a very good catholic. When everyone in my class was talking about giving up chocolate I asked them how them not eating chocolate would help God. They couldn't answer me satisfactorily, so I'm not giving anything up. Actually, I wouldn't have given anything up anyway.

Showers would only get in the way of your praying if you always think "I want to talk to God now... but I'll have a shower instead, because that's what society thinks I should do."

I'm not a very good catholic. When everyone in my class was talking about giving up chocolate I asked them how them not eating chocolate would help God. They couldn't answer me satisfactorily, so I'm not giving anything up.

I think that makes you a better Catholic, you know. Well: a better Christian, at any rate.

You don't have to understand religion if you don't want to, Sponson, but rest assured: God understands you

Gal, the reason you're so confused, if I understand correctly, is that your religion is very much connected to the body as a way of connecting to the spiritual side of things. In Christianity, or at least in Mormonism, we believe that the body is what is susceptible to the Devil's tempation, and so we must conquer our mortal bodies with our immortal spirits. If we let our bodies, which are given natural tendencies that are right at some times but wrong at others, control our perfect spirits, we're going against the order that God has established, and that's when we commit sin.

Of course, this entire belief system is so wildly different from what you believe that even my explanation probably makes no sense to you. You don't believe in a Devil that is out to try to draw us away from God, so you never think that what our bodies tell us to do can ever be wrong. In Christianity, we deny our bodies not what they actually need, but the unrighteous desires that the Devil puts into our hearts. By abstaining from such temptations, we can remain close to God. Fasting is a symbolic way of denying our bodies its mortal urges and replacing them with something immortal. In Mormonism, we fast one Sunday a month for two meals--no food or water at all kind of fast--and we do it coupled with prayer and contemplation. Otherwise, it has no meaning other than going without food or water for two meals. I think of it as a way of showing our faith and submission to God. Also, it really is good for us to fast for a couple of meals every once in a while--or so I've heard. I definitely feel better after a day of fasting.

Did I cover the bases?

EDIT: Wow, going back, I think I just said in more words what other people have already said lol. Oh well. To get back to the original topic, I don't celebrate Lent, but on Sunday my roommates and I will be fasting for our friend who we just found out is bulemic.

I'm not officially giving anything up like food or whatever, but i'm going to try and start going to bed early.. and if you want a religious reason, i can say that going to bed early will definately help me concentrate. it's pretty hard to think of anything - religious or otherwise - with the times i go to bed... :S

hmm last year was more interesting. i gave up meat for lent, and i haven't eaten any since. go me!!!

personally i don't think lent should be about getting thin or whatever, it's a test of faith by giving up something you might normally use every day. i think it can be anything, but it should be something that really does test you, for example, if you're addicted to alcohol or cigarettes, it's a good time to try giving them up.

the story i know is of Jesus in the desert for forty days. i think part of it was that the devil met him three (?) times, and tried to tempt him with materialistic things like different type of food and drink. did i get that right..? i am a christian so i'd like to hope i do know it...

Bobo, you're right. I believe firmly that the rift between our bodies and spirits artificially imposed by religion is extremely detrimental to our selves and our souls. The Lady wants me to celebrate, not to suffer. So, mostly Lent doesn't makes sense to me. I've never been a big holidaya person, really.

The senior pastor at my parent's church says that Lent should only be about you and god. Not about getting thin or giving up sweets or depriving yourself of something you enjoy, but about doing his work better and getting closer to him. I think this is a much healthier attitude than those held by a vast majority of C&E Christians (Christmas and Easter Christians, also known as tourists). A boy I know gave up soda and saved the money he would have spent bying soda. Then, he donated all of it to DenUM (Denver Urban Ministries). My biggest problem though, is why this sort of thing is not practiced year round.

Er... for Lent, basically, I look at my life and then try to pinpoint one reason why I'm so miserable and fix it. Since I'm so young, this usually means taking on something rather than giving up. I regularly started brushing my teeth one year, then another I started exercising, and the list goes on. I'm not quite sure what I want to take this year... probably practicing my clarinet more. And, as much as I love writing critiques, I probably will limit those and work on my own story.

I believe firmly that the rift between our bodies and spirits artificially imposed by religion is extremely detrimental to our selves and our souls. The Lady wants me to celebrate, not to suffer. So, mostly Lent doesn't makes sense to me. I've never been a big holidaya person, really.

There's a difference between the populist view of religion, and what it actually says: official Christian Theology says that the body is something to be celebrated, not seperated from. One of the most oft-repeated myths about Christian beliefs is that the body is dross, which is left behind after death while the 'soul' ascends to Heaven - the reality is quite different. The Bible is very clear on the fact that the body AND consciousness stay dead and unanimated until Christ shall come back to judge the living and the dead - resurrection, not ascention. The body is, in fact, made MORE real, not less - achieving true physicality, instead of the shadow we have now.

My previous post explains a bit more about Lent in general, but it always irks me how non-Christians and *especially* Christians don't know what they're talking about, a lot of the time - Christianity certainly isn't about seperating or denying yourself anything: rather, it's about 'living life to the full' as it says in the Gospels.

Gal, it's not about suffering by denying certain bodily functions most of the time, it's about holding them sacred by saving them for specific occasions, ordained by God. As for Lent, I think it makes perfect sense as it's meant to be practiced, but I agree that we should be striving year-round to improve ourselves and come closer to God.

backgroundbob wrote:There's a difference between the populist view of religion, and what it actually says: official Christian Theology says that the body is something to be celebrated, not seperated from. One of the most oft-repeated myths about Christian beliefs is that the body is dross, which is left behind after death while the 'soul' ascends to Heaven - the reality is quite different. The Bible is very clear on the fact that the body AND consciousness stay dead and unanimated until Christ shall come back to judge the living and the dead - resurrection, not ascention. The body is, in fact, made MORE real, not less - achieving true physicality, instead of the shadow we have now.

Yes. Not only an oft-repeated myth, but the entire 'damnably depraved' view of the physical world is a heresy, condemned under a dozen names by the Church; Albigensian, Manichean...Puritan.

Éloeré wrote:I'm not a very good catholic. When everyone in my class was talking about giving up chocolate I asked them how them not eating chocolate would help God. They couldn't answer me satisfactorily, so I'm not giving anything up. Actually, I wouldn't have given anything up anyway.

You don't need to give something up, but you could do something positive instead like promising to be more patient with siblings, helping a classmate with their studies, putting five bucks in the poor box every Sunday, etc. Indeed, it's better to do something positive than to give something up. For me, I give something up because I find it's easier to do it during Lent and it develops healthier habits. For instance, I gave up coffee for Lent about six years ago since I had started drinking it three times a day. I still have coffee now, but only about once a week.

However, I'm still doing positive stuff like doing more volunteer work during Lent and helping my neighbors with their studies.

I gave up playing video games since I'm a video game addict.
Sadly, Kingdom Hearts 2 comes out March 28; 18 days before lent ends. Therefore, I must wait to play the one game I've been dying to play since before November.

I failed...

im taking lent a little differnt this year. in my youth ministry, we talked about Lent and how we always give something up....we discussed how it'd be nice that instead of giving something up during Lent this year, we should try to give something. i thought that was cool.