Thoughts of Spring - Lent

It's that time of year again - traditionally the time of year when I make a resolution to give something up for the next six weeks only to either (a) consciously make a decision to break said resolution or (b) forget that I've given up chocolate and tuck into handful of M&Ms. Hopefully this year will be different.

This year we kicked off Lent at our full to overflowing Newman Center on campus. We tried going to the 5 PM mass, but there were no seats so we went back for the 9 PM instead. This time we were early and managed to get a seat, but there were dozens of other people standing in the back. I wondered why a 9 PM mass would be so packed and then I realized this isn't a "real people" mass, it's a "college people" mass. 9 PM is when most of the undergrads start waking up and who knows, maybe some of them were on their way out to the bars.

Newman in Urbana is a far cry from Newman in Eau Claire. For starters, it's a large church not a small, cozy intimate space. There's even a stained glass window featuring Jesus and the American flag - Jesus hearts America! And the main priest is no mere father - he's a Monsignor! Each mass that we've attended the Monsignor, in his sports announcer voice, delivers his homily from the pulpit, his voice cascading in waves throughout the chapel. "Batter up." (When we first visited the church last summer Kaia turned to me and said, "why is he yelling at us?") So it was in this environment that we received our ashes this year. "Remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return." Sigh.

Each year I struggle with what to give up for Lent. It's always a difficult decision but this year I've decided to make the following adjustments to my life:

1. No reading news on the internet (especially online opinion forums such as Salon, Huffington Post, etc). This has been mostly due to my obsessive checking of the news revolving around recent events Wisconsin. It was getting in the way of my work and causing me much anxiety.

2. Facebook once per day. No need to explain this.

3. Only one hour of TV per night. This is due in large part to our recent HBO's The Wire binge where we watched the last four episodes of the show in one sitting. And then watched all of the special features. It was something like five hours of television in one sitting.

Hopefully I will be able to keep all of this up and use the time I save to study more music and reflect on the mystery of creation and attempt to tap into a more spiritual existence. Or I will jettison the entire thing by week two and obsessively watch the entire series of Tombstone, while reading internet blogs and Facebook chatting. Only time will tell.