Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of lent for devout Christians.
The calendar people must have had a field day with this week. Fitting in all those special days in one week! We'll start the week off with Valentines day;the most corporate of holidays; the most depressing, then Family day for the Canadians, Pancake Tuesday (Mardi Gras) for the gluttons, partiers and christians alike, then SLAM Ash Wednesday, time to give it all up. Give up those cinnamon hearts, the pancakes and all the rest. You can probably keep your sweetheart though.. if you managed to snag one on Sunday.
I'm not in the least religious, but Ash Wednesday has a certain mystery about it.. It's pretty creepy too. The ashes they use are supposed to be the ashes of the palm crosses they burned on the previous year's Palm Sunday. Also, the minister who puts the ash on your forehead says "Remember (O man) that you are dust, and to dust you shall return" when he does it. Holy wake up call, eh?
I was never really into giving things up or making new year's resolutions. First it's New Year's, boy you have a whole year ahead, then you've got Lent, sacrifice something to better your soul, then it's bikini season, better get fit so you look good at the beach, then September, time to start school again? Let's start this year off with great work habits.. and then it's practically New Year's again. Why do we need so many reminders that we should pull it together?
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I didn't know anyone did blogs anymore, cool.
ReplyDeleteI'd say that today was the first day of lent for devout christians and not-so-devout-christians, like me. I went to a (long) mass because I'm doing a practicum in a cathloic school, and by the end even I was fidgety, so you can imagine the kids. After they received their ashes, I heard one kid ask another "what does mine look like?" and the other said "a circle". I thought that was cute.
um, catholic, I mean. that was a type-o.
ReplyDeletereligious customs have always been sort of fascinating to me... coming from a basically atheist upbringing. In some ways, I kind of think it's funny, and strange... but in other ways... the romantic, superstitious and uncynical part of me feels like I might be missing out.
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