Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is today. It serves as a reminder to the faithful that our bodies are like the ash and the dust and will return to the earth when our days here are done, but our souls are immortal.

No meat today. That pretty much ruins what I was going to eat for breakfast, so now I have to figure out an alternative. Maybe I have time to make a pitstop by the donut shop on the way out of town this morning. If not, I'll have to make do on some iced tea this morning.

Today also marks the beginning of the Lenten season. It is 40 days preceeding Easter and is designed to remind us of the sacrifices Jesus made for us. We don't eat meat today and on each Friday throughout Lent and we also are asked to give up something that we love for the entire 40 days. It is just a reminder, in a miniscule way obviously, of the sacrifices Jesus made. I'm giving up cookies and sodas - in particular, Dr Pepper. This will be so hard, but I know that it is a very good sacrifice since it will improve my eating habits. I'm going to try and maintain the soda ban after Easter, too. Cookies, however, will be back on the menu. I think Army of Dad is going to give up chocolate. At first, it doesn't seem like that big of a sacrifice to me since he hardly eats candy - but then we see all the various things that have chocolate in them as we go throughout the day. He did this last year and we were shocked at all the various ways a person can have chocolate.

Yesterday was the end of the Mardi Gras and it made me remember when I first learned of Mardi Gras. I grew up Southern Baptist in small-town Texas and had heard of Mardi Gras, but didn't know what happened or what went on. I just knew people tossed beads, wore masks, drank alot and it was in New Orleans. When I was 26 and living in West Texas, the local Jaycees hosted a Mardi Gras parade and had colorful floats and tossed out beads to the crowds. The community was in a tizzy. I had no idea why until one of our sports writers - who had been to Mardi Gras - explained how exactly people got the beads. Then, a wave of understanding came over me about why this largely uptight crowd. Just one of those weird ways I was sheltered in my youth. I'm still pretty naive about a lot of things. Army of Dad, LabKat and others tend to roll their eyes when they have to explain things to me. *shrug* I guess that is good.