Growing up, I experienced very little liturgical culture. I heard people talk about this thing called "Lent," but just assumed it was some heathen practice, and didn't care to learn anything about it. During college some friends of mine headed to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, and came back with all sorts of hedonic stories that further settled my assumptions of Lent.
Then I moved to Central Pennsylvania and was inundated with the Scotch-Irish influence over Cumberland Valley, as well as the Pennsylvania Dutch's German traditions. Turns out, Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday or Fastnacht Day or Marti Gras or whatever you call it, and the 40 days that follow, are a big deal to a lot of people. So I found out about its origins, what was being celebrated, and why. And I discovered that I wasn't into the ashes on my head bit, since Jesus specifically said NOT to do stuff like that.
However, I also discoverd that I was in awe of the concept of seemingly rote sacrifice training me to allow the Fruit of the Spirit to lead my heart and actions. But I never took this discovery any further.
Until my kids learned how to read. And they started noticing all the signs around town, and asked what "marty grass" and "fast nached" meant and what exactly was so great about February 21st this year?
So I gave them a little history lesson, explained that the tradition was made by people, and that the 40 days of Lent aren't inherently any holier than the rest of the days of the year. And then while I was talking about Lent's concept of giving up something you love and giving that love back to others, it dawned on me that this was a fantastic opportunity to teach a really great lesson on patience, kindness, self-control, and sacrificial love. I surprised myself by asking the girls if they wanted to participate in our own Lent-ish tradition this year.
They did! We talked about how making sacrifices teaches us self-control. And about the importance of keeping our commitment to be unselfish and serve others. And about how a true sacrifice means giving up something important, and giving it cheerfully. And we talked a long time about how God's Love fills the void of sacrifice. And most importantly, how all this echoes Jesus' sacrifice for our Salvation. Wow.
Then it came time to decide what we could give.
In Gaskinland, we have what we call "Junk Food/Screen Time Saturdays." That means, the whole week you don't eat any junk, and you don't watch TV or play video games. But on Saturday, you're allowed three hours of "screen time" and $6 worth of any junk food you like. We all plan for and anticipate the treats that await us at the end of every week. It's a big deal around here. And amazingly, this is what the girls chose to cheerfully give.
Giving up six weeks worth of junk food and screen time will give each person $36 and 18 hours to give to others. Ronnie wants to use her three hours a week to make cards and presents for residents of nursing homes and to visit them. And she's decided to spend her $36 on bus tickets to keep in her wallet, so the next time we run across someone at the bus station who asks for change for bus fare, she'll be ready to help. Alexa wants to use her junk food money to still buy junk food, but to give it to other people, and plans to spend her extra time help bring joy to sick and sad people. Penny is only three, and doesn't entirely get why we're doing what we're doing, but she's along for the ride, and I am honored to be the mother of her big sisters who are being such a good example to her.
