In a few short days, Ash Wednesday will be upon us and a new Lenten journey will begin. I was lying in bed the other night unable to sleep, and my mind started wandering and pondering on what I could “give up” for Lent this year. Let’s run through the mental check list, shall we? Candy? Nah, I’m not 12 anymore and I don’t really eat much of it these days. Coffee? That would be a little redundant as I played that game last year. Beer? I did that one a few years ago as well and it seemed like a hugely trivial denial when I thought about it. My thoughts began to wander in a different direction until I had a mini-revelation…although at 2:30 AM, any revelation can be considered a big one. What if I took all of the energy and will power I used each year for giving something up and put it to good use? What if I took the “bad” and turned it into good. That’s when it hit me – 40 Days to Change the World. My plan was hatched and the scheming began immediately – this resulted in another hour of no sleep but it was worth it.
The goal itself is rather simple: Perform at least one act of random kindness each day for the 40 days of Lent. OK, so there are 45 days in Lent this year but everyone remembers Lent as 40 days and that is why I am going with that. This past Sunday at Mass, our community members had a chance to offer up ideas for Lenten kindness. They all received little slips of paper that said, “One act of kindness I suggest as a practice for Lent is…” I will take some of their suggestions and some of YOUR’S as I go through this journey of love in action to make my world a better place for all who live in it. Be sure to add comments here with your ideas of what acts of love and kindness I can perform during Lent. If I inspire along the way and cause others to do acts of random love and kindness, all the better!
There are a few cornerstones to this project that I should discuss a little bit before I go any further…
- To better my world, I must better myself – I like to think that for the most part I am a pretty decent person. I always try to meet the needs of my family and friends (and sometimes strangers) ahead of my own; I am a pretty positive and happy person and I try to encourage others to be positive and happy as well; I try to remember all of the good in my life and never forget the blessings; I’m a loving guy. All that being said, I can still do more. I should still do more. I have been given so much good and it is my responsibility to share that good and encourage that good wherever I go. Acts of kindness and love should not be seen as an obligation but freely given as a fellow human being to all of my brothers and sisters in the world – theologically speaking we are all created in the image and likeness of God, so why am I better than anyone else? I’m not. Everyone deserves a little love and light in their life and I am hoping to be the one to show it to them. A wonderful result of all this giving is that I will in turn become a better person myself and hopefully encourage others along my way. We can all be great and we can all love – social justice isn’t just for rock stars.
- Live simply so others may simply live – This is a motto commonly found connected with alternative spring break programs and service sites around the country. Not that I lead an extravagant life to begin with, but I plan to scale back what I do and how I do it a little more. I have a ridiculously large amount of clothing that I do not wear anymore so that will all be donated to different charity agencies throughout the city. I’m sure there are a number of other things I can do to accomplish this but they are not coming to me right now. I’ll keep you updated.
- Love in action – We all know that love is shown more in deeds than it is in words but there are a few types of love I will be focusing on. “Caritas” is the Latin term for charity and also refers to Christian love. This relates to the good work and good deeds we can do for others. “Agape” is Greek and relates to the love of God. For our usage, we will label it as divine, unconditional, self-sacrificing, active, and thoughtful love.
- In a perfectly appropriate twist of fate, Holy Week will find me in Baltimore on Alternative Spring Break with my students. I can’t think of a better way to spend my last week of this project – instead of struggling to get to the finish line, we will be building up to a crescendo, reaching the highest point at the conclusion.
I will be offering my thoughts, reactions, struggles, hopes, dreams, experiences, etc. here, so be sure to follow along the journey. 8 days until the adventure begins. I welcome all suggestions and ideas for tasks I should accomplish.
Peace & Love
