It's that time of year again. I've been off coffee for a couple of weeks now, but the rest I ditch for 46 days - not until Sunday, April 11th will I return to my usual diet. This year, I'm not giving up fish, as the Omega 3 oils are good for the brain. I will, however, be giving up:
Caffeine - alcohol - meat - dairy products - salt snacks - salt - chips - fast food - fizzy drinks -confectionary and cake (the last two are easy as I rarely indulge).
I shall also return to physical exercise - sits ups and press ups. I did 30 of the former (two lots of 15) and 10 of the latter (two lots of five). I'll be building up progressively over Lent.
Today at our conference in Kraków, the chief executive of Małopolska province, Marek Sowa, mentioned that today is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, and that here we are in a global economic recession. It may be worth pondering on the parallels.
We're in the state we're in because of greed. As my sister-in-law says, the UK's cumulative trade deficit with China lies buried in the landfills of Britain, each one brim-full of broken plastic toys and consumer goods that people didn't really need nor were never made happy by.
Lent is a good time to reflect on our consumer attitudes, spend less, save more, think about others and our environment. And also reflect about the spritual nature of our lives.
This time last year:
Intimations of spring
Over the fence at Okęcie airport
Przednówek - a long wait for spring
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1 comment:
your lentern ascetics - accompanied by your excellent dedication and discipline - are a sobering and timely gleam of emergent light in the darkness that surrounds us. Strength in all yew dew, Brother.
You are correct about where we are now - greed has its own bitter harvest and sadly, those at the bottom will again feel it the hardest. You are correct too about a time to reflect upon rampant consumerism - as I get older, so I purchase less and in so doing, I clear the spaces for the spiritual side to enter. Shops become a blur of abstraction smudged across the urban landscape - the bitter argot of designer names and products we simply do not need.
In the ascetic so there also becoums the aesthetic. Unto this end, shall I prevail in reflection, privation and creation.
Frater WildernessMan
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