Lent is a time of self-denial. As with many other established religions, the notion of fasting plays an important role in Christianity. Coming at a time of year associated with neither harvests nor plenty, Lent also had a social-control function - keep gluttony in check when the granaries are running low. Our supermarkets, groaning with produce from the Southern Hemisphere in late winter, have made that history, so now the main purpose of Lent is spiritual - a chance to exercise the will not to do something.
Yet deferring gratification can make sense. If you are constantly spending money on small, unnecessary things while the big important purchases recede into the distance because you can't save for them, you have a problem. The problem is exacerbated by the materialist culture that surrounds us - 'buy now, pay later'. Do so and the debt piles up, while the consumer remains ever dissatisfied, uncomfortable.
"We want the world, and we want it NOW!" yelled Jim Morrison in When The Music's Over (1967). The boomer generation, fed on the idea of conspicuous consumption, changing cars every three or four years, keeping up with the Joneses, launched an assault on Planet Earth's resources unprecedented in human history in terms of scale and scope. The Doors song shows the dichotomy at the heart of materialist society - Morrison was concerned about its effects on the environment:
What have they done to the earth, yeah
What have they done to our fair sister?Ravaged and plundered and ripped her and bit her
Stuck her with knives in the side of the dawn and
Tied her with fences and dragged her down
Driven by omnipresent advertising, we have been encouraged to buy, buy, buy in order to make us happier. And so a seasonal stop - a counter to the excesses leading up to Christmas - is in order.
Exercising self-denial is hugely beneficial. Begin by cutting out things that are essentially bad for you, and do so successfully for the duration of Lent, and you can cut them out of your life over time. Confectionary, cakes, biscuits, sugar, salt snacks, fizzy drinks, have all largely disappeared from my diet for good over the past 30 years. Physical exercise - once a Lent-only thing - has become a year-round habit. Similarly with buying consumer goods. Take a pause in Lent, scale back, consider - what can be repaired? What can be borrowed or hired? What can be bought secondhand? Only if it can't should we buy new. Wait until Easter, delay that gratification.
Why?
Appreciation. Heightened sense of joy at having waited. I am anticipating my first glass of cold beer - with single-malt whisky chaser- at the now-traditional time of a second past midnight on Easter Sunday. A time to savour intoxication, having 'saved up for it' for 46 days. Savour mindfully. Each sip, each swallow, the warming effect as the alcohol courses around the bloodstream. To be enjoyed responsibly. And then a good night's sleep.
Self-denial is the the mirror opposite of procrastination avoidance. "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today"/"You'll enjoy it more after a period of abstinence". This balance needs to be struck.
Learning to differentiate between joy and pleasure is vitally important to a happy life. Earning money by doing a stressful job then spending it unthinkingly on pleasure is not a good way of living. Better to earn less by doing something you want to do, and spend money mindfully and focus on moments of true joy - deeply spiritual moments, lost in metaphysical wonder, rather than on short-term gratification.
This time last year:
Dreams and the Afterlife
This time three years ago:
Free Will and Quantum Mechanics
This time four years ago:
Good thinking captured - the importance of jotting it down
This time five years ago:
Spirit of place and our own spirituality
This time six years ago:
Poland's road death toll falls but remains too high
This time nine years ago:
My photos turned into beautiful watercolours
This time ten years ago:
Silver birches and blue skies
This time 12 years ago:
Jeziorki's wetlands in late winter (2009)
This time 13 years ago:
Jeziorki's wetlands in late winter (2008)
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2 comments:
Yes, Lent has characteristically been thought of as a time of self denial. But I think the Lent 2021 is different. We have been in the grip of a year long (and counting) global pandemic. A year of profound loss. No offence, but I don’t want to self deny now. I want to reward myself, for another day of coping with the isolation of lockdown, of not being able to see my children, of not visiting with friends, of an unsure future. I enjoy my glass of wine at the end of the day - I look forward to it. And the occasional piece of cake or salty snack is fine. Small luxuries, but important ones, We need to be kind to ourselves, and let go of the harshness of Lenten self denial, this year.
@ Teresa Flanagan
I accept your point of view, and, pondering on why I don't fully share it, conclude that I'm quite OK with social distancing (being a distant and introverted person by nature). Hadn't occurred to me once that the pandemic might affect Lenten habits!
I might have considered Lenten self-denial 'harsh' (especially those years when I gave up dairy and fish as well as meat, going full vegan!), but generally, abandoning cake and salt snacks has gone from being a Lent thing to being a year-round, life-long thing, so I don't miss them.
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