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Living my religion

I gave up on french fries for Lent. Not a big thing for most people, a hell of a big thing for me. A lot of people still find it weird that you would give up on something. And then others turn and say "well I gave up on chocolate". Chocolate would have been easy for me, I must admit. It feels a bit thing for many people but I am not a sweet tooth. Bread and french fries were the big things left on my list, and I must admit I don't feel I should punish others from my own sacrifice, so bread was out of the question. I was certain to be unbearable, unsociable and a real pain if I gave up on bread. So I chose french fries. I never thought I would but on Ash wednesday as it came to my mind I knew it had to be.
Does God ask me to give up on anything? No, not at all. Religion, as most things in life, is a choice. My faith is aligned with my values, the religion I chose to follow is as well, most of the times, but not at all times. It has been 12 years since I started giving up on something for Lent. It does not run in the family, it was not thought to me in Catholic school. I was living in Mozambique and as I entered a very spiritual Lent, I chose to give up on Coca Cola, my favourite drink ever. Living in permanent >30 degrees celsius, this may not have been my smartest choice yet. And no, the nuns I was living with never told me to do so, and actually I am not even sure they gave up on something specific themselves. At some point, I was quite ill, thought to be malaria, but in the end just some tummy bug that you are never immune from when living there. As I de-hydrated and held nothing in my stomach the doctor recommended carrot, rice and Coke. I told him no Coke. He looked at me blankly trying to figure out if I was there with some with to melt. When I told him I would have no Coke until Easter Sunday, he had the nuns assemble around me and promise me God would forgive me for breaking my lent as I was ill. Never a coke tasted so bad, but I recognised illness was not what God asked from me. My first Lent without something was also the most special resurrection. As we arrived for a Mass that lasted over 4 hours in Portuguese and dialect, Easter supper was ready to end the fast and the Sister Aparecida had put a Coke on ice for me since midday. Never did Coke felt so good. 
Since then, I have tried to do it every year, with few exceptions. Most times it was Coke, enhanced to include all replacement soft drinks with the years (yes, I concluded Ginger Ale was cheating). I also gave up on alcohol twice, one of them during MBA, which I must say was almost as bad of an idea as the Coke one in Mozambique. And people wondered why. 

I give up on something because I used it as cleansing. I believe it makes my senses more acute and it supports my path through an Easter for change. For many years, Easter would be the most common year where I would try and stop to think about life and change things I did not feel right. That dates back to when I was 20 years old but is often limited by the fact that I worked most of my Easters in MS, except the one I had C. Well, indeed I was working hard on that one too, as C was born Holy Thursday. But that was a change in life I did not have to think about, it was certain to come! 
Anyway, I believe giving up on something helps me set the path to clean my soul in a symbolic fashion. Moreover, it has the benefit of making me enjoy whatever I give up on much more once I have it again. And more often than not, it last years after. I never again had a Coke without really wanting one, and I know the first french fries I eat in a week (yes, counting the days) will be special and memorable. 

We all have our ways to live our religion, this is mine. I do it for me and for the belief that Jesus endured a tortuous path before delivering himself to something greater. Whatever we all believe in, makes sense to me. 

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