Next year, I'm giving up meat

Things I'm not giving up for Lent this year:

1) Sweets. I've done this a bunch before, prompted by the example of my Catholic aunts when I was a kid. I always expected to weigh 10 pounds less by Easter. It never happened. Instead my chocolate addiction was resurrected (yes, resurrected) with a vengeance each time, making it that much harder for next year.

2) Money. I've tried this before too--not buying anything unnecessary--prompted by a sermon my first year in seminary. I thought that was kind of in the true spirit of Lent, so I did it for two years, then got tired of it. Not too long ago I read A.J. Jacobs's Year of Living Biblically, where he tries to adhere to Scripture as literally as possible, and I remember thinking it would be a good Lenten practice to try to take Luke 6:30, "Give to everyone who begs from you," literally for 6 weeks. I still think that would be good. But turns out I don't have very much money these days, so maybe next year when I am rich. I know--nowhere does it say "Give to everyone who begs from you if you can comfortably afford it." But maybe that's just a good verse to generally keep in mind for now...

3) Meat. Who doesn't eat meat???

4) Facebook. It occurs to me that this would be another excellent option, probably also in the "true spirit" of Lent. I waste vast amounts of time on Facebook. Refreshing the news feed, checking if anyone liked my status, keeping tabs on the relationship status of every guy I've ever had a crush on. This is conducive neither to good stewardship of time nor to good mental health. If I gave up--or even limited--my Facebook access, I would have all sorts of time for things like prayer and meditation and learning Spanish. But then again, when your social life isn't exactly abuzz offline, Facebook does help you feel connected. So it's staying, too.

I'm thinking about these things because last year, when I started this blog as my Lenten discipline and committed to have one theological thought a day and write it down, I kind of ran out of things to talk about toward week three or four. That's crazy! If the goal is to think about my whole life in all its aspects more theologically--to see everything through the lens of faith and not just explicitly churchy things--how do you run out??

I know if I read the Bible more, I would more naturally think of life in terms of what I read. I want that for myself--for Scripture to be so much a part of me that I can't separate it from the things I experience on a day to day basis. I've been trying to be better about that for a while now. But maybe for writing I also need some focus. You know, so I could chronicle my experiences during my Facebook fast, or how I felt when I couldn't just walk past the overly-cheerful men collecting donations outside Giant (that did happen today; I was a little annoyed at how enthusiastically they greeted me, like they were personally excited to see me.) Anyway, I'm going to keep thinking, and maybe inspiration will strike!