Don't Give up on Giving up

It's Lent, so a common topic in my Catholic circles is, "How are you celebrating Lent?" or "How are you teaching your children about Lent?" When I respond with, "My husband gave up soda; I gave up TV; Leo gave up cookies and Gus gave up diapers," I'm pretty sure I see the hint of an eye roll.

See, it's not cool to give up things anymore. 

You gotta DO something. They'll come back with, "Well, in my family we're not really 'giving up' anything. We're…"

• Praying the rosary every day 
• Giving to a charity
• Doing the stations of the cross every Friday 
• Building houses for Habitat for Humanity 
• Feeding the homeless 
• Sheltering the homeless 
• Clothing the homeless 
• Reading the Bible 
• Meditating 
• Learning about a new saint each morning
• Saving the world 
• Etc. 

They'll say that they feel like DOING something strengthens their relationship with God more than merely 'giving up' something like dessert (insert more obvious eye roll here).  I have also seen lots of blog posts geared towards this topic: "Instead of just giving up something, which has no impact on your walk with God, try DOING something this Lent." This is followed by a list of ideas to replace such a silly idea like giving up Facebook. 

So here's my response--my theoretical response, if I really felt like stirring up a holy debate, which I don't, except here on my blog:  

Hey, that's great. DOING stuff is always a good thing. That's definitely a part of Lent. We're even DOING something at my house by reading a little story every day and opening windows on this Lenten ark, much like an advent calendar.

But let's remember how it all started. Jesus GAVE UP food for 40 days and nights in the desert.

So first, it's a sacrifice. When we give up something we enjoy--no matter how trivial it seems compared to what Jesus did--we too are making a sacrifice. And that sacrifice is a tribute to Jesus. So no, giving up dessert doesn't necessarily mean we're going to spend that dessert time praying more. But I believe everything doesn't have to be so directly correlated. It doesn't have to be so obvious like "No chocolate = more Bible reading." But if it does, that's just a bonus.

Second, it's a tradition. Giving up something is as traditional as exchanging presents on Christmas. You could argue that giving and receiving presents on Christmas doesn't strengthen your relationship with God either.

And last, giving up things helps you to learn how to withstand temptation. During Jesus' 40 days, he was tempted three times by the devil. We are tempted all the time in our daily lives. And trust me, during Lent I have been tempted to turn on the TV. Frank has been tempted to drink soda. Leo has been tempted (probably the most!) to eat cookies. And Gus. Well, there are days where he would probably love to throw in the towel and wear a diaper. But every time we don't give in, we are getting stronger. So when bigger temptations come our way, we will have the strength to withstand them.

So sure, go out and DO, DO, DO but remember, don't let that right hand know what that left is doing (winky face: it's not a competition about who is doing or giving more). And then ask yourself, WWJD?

He would GIVE UP something. So should we.