Lent?

xojo1

Does anyone here participate in the giving something up/adding something significant for Lent?

I don't identify with a particular religion at this point (I have decided against Catholicism for various reasons and am now shopping around) but I like the sentiment that goes along with Lent.

I've decided to give up chocolate since it is a huge vice for me. I am trying to try to do something nice for another person every day since this year it will be hard for me to commit to volunteering or something like that. Do you have any plans?

crystal1026

I have not been in church regularly in several years. I am Methodist and growing up I always went to all of the services leading up to Easter and gave something up  for Lent. I still identify with those beliefs and like you the sentiment that goes along.  I am giving up Fries. I have a huge addiction to fries... as in I even made H run up to wendys last week for fries and a frosty, to my defense I wasn't feeling good. But still something that I do way too often, and can do without.

H and I do need to find a church together. That has been on our 'list' but have yet to find the time together. 

SugarhillHnA

I'm giving up the scrumptious cafeteria cookies that I've been addicted to for awhile now.  I'm going to have a last one today- the delicious peanut butter one.  I'm hoping that by giving them up for Lent it will continue for the long haul after Lent is over.

jasonsgirl1024

Shop around! Lol! I was baptized Catholic, confirmed Lutheran, and married by a Quaker/Friend.  Growing up, my mom was convinced I'd marry someone of the Jewish faith to add to my confusion!!

I'm not giving anything up for Lent, but for my 101 in 1001, I'm giving up eating any fast food, and only drinking water (giving up even coffee- eek!) the month before the 1/2.

jenndawnp

I'm not particularly religious but starting last week so it's close to Lent, I'm giving up all -ville related games.  I've gotten a weekish under my belt and I'm glad about it.  I'm going to try to give them up for good, they were cutting into my getting ready/laying in bed time in the morning and I need to.

cookiemonster03

Since I'm agnostic, I don't participate in Lent (I am (was?) confirmed Catholic, but clearly not practicing). I don't really understand how giving up something you like/a vice/etc brings you closer to God/is a sacrifice/etc (esp when so many people say "i'll give up [Food X] so I can lose weight too!". I've always thought it should be more of a volunteer more or something similar.

About the shopping around - I think I would do OK in the Jewish faith. There is much more of a culture of debate rather than "blind" faith, at least from what I know of the reformed communities, and I have always been interested in Jewish culture.  That said, I don't have a ton of interest in being religious (just something C and I have talked about...she grew up much more Catholic than me and has toyed with a Uniterian church, but that's still too Christian for my taste).

reps14

cookiemonster03:

Since I'm agnostic, I don't participate in Lent (I am (was?) confirmed Catholic, but clearly not practicing). I don't really understand how giving up something you like/a vice/etc brings you closer to God/is a sacrifice/etc (esp when so many people say "i'll give up [Food X] so I can lose weight too!". I've always thought it should be more of a volunteer more or something similar.

This! I have shifted my focus over the years to be more of a "giving of oneself" instead of giving something up.  Although, in my church growing up, it was optional.

I also understand the "shopping around."  We're in the process of finally looking into P's baptism.  B was raised Catholic but we got married Presbyterian (I was raised Presbyterian by Catholic parents) and we don't have a home church.  We've been stalling for several reasons I don't want to get into now, but it is important to me and important to our folks, so I want to do it soon.  We're actually contacting our Catholic church (our Archdiocese determines which church you attend based on where you live) to see if we can do it there even though I'm not Catholic and P's godfather is also not Catholic.  Some parishes are more strict than others.  We decided to explore this because my ILs are practicing and a lot of the family traditions that P is being exposed to center around that. 

abvernon

DH and I were both grown up in Catholic families (baptized, confirmation, etc.) but the last time we went to church was in our early 20's. Since we are not practicing Catholics, we felt it would not be a good idea to get married in a church (which MIL has an issue to this day)

As for Lent, we semi-honor it by not eating fish on Fridays. As for giving something up-it is Girl Scout Cookies. We made a choice not to keep those things in the house at all. Plus with the cost of them AND how they taste different, it was a win-win for us.