Lenten Observances

On this fat Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday, ushering in the liturgical season of Lent) the big question hovers.

What are you doing for Lent?

There are varied forms of this question, what are you giving up for Lent, what is your Lenten discipline, what is something you want to add to your life this Lent, are you attending services... I could go on.

So, what are you doing for Lent? Here are some thoughts.

Condoms & Bombs

I've recently picked up again the book Persistent Peace by John Dear, SJ (Jesuit Priest). I started reading it last summer before my trip to Australia and never got back into it upon my return - until now. If you aren't familiar with John Dear's writings, he comes at faith and theology from a nonviolent, liberation perspective. He has spent his entire life "ordained for peace;" working on behalf of victims of war, standing against the death penalty, challenging the government to seek peace and not kill. Fr. Dear has been arrested numerous times - staging sit-ins at the pentagon, facilitating civil disobedience at police stations and elected officials' offices, standing in the way of the "industrial military complex" at every juncture he could. If this isn't true faith and the living out of Gospel values I am not sure what is. If this isn't a "faith the does justice" then I haven't seen faith lately. I've been (re)inspired!

As I sat reading this morning on the shuttle downtown, I couldn't help but think of this book's timely invitation. In about a week, we usher in the season of Lent, a time of introspection, prayer, ritual, and a remembrance of Christ's life and mission, death and significance, and re-appropriating such in our lives today. Jesus himself, a victim of murder and capital punishment, sought a new world order, one built on peace and love. Peering out the window to cars rushing by, several questions arose for me:

Is Dear's spiritual memoir an invitation to look at the peaceful movements (and non-peaceful movements) in my life? Is picking up the book again calling me to look at the structures and systems that perpetuate violence? And finally, what about inner violence and destruction - the kind I strap on myself and is all too present in the hearts of many?

This would be quite the Lenten undertaking! I'm aware that it is not in the answers to these questions that I will find peace. Instead, in trying to be peace and yearn for peace, I am made peaceful.

I chuckled this morning when I read Dear describe the Catholic Church hierarchy's often sluggish response to issues of war and peace.

"One friend noted that if the United States had dropped eighty thousand tons of condoms on Iraq, the bishops would have denounced it and done civil disobedience at the White House. Evidently, bombs did not hold the same priority" (Dear, 2008, p. 213).

As we gear up for another Lenten journey, may God give us the wisdom and foresight to focus on what really matters! In the meantime, I want to make a special effort to pray for all those affected by war and violence in our world today. May they be inspired by a persistence peace, too!

Dear, J. (2008). A persistent peace: One man's struggle for a nonviolent world. Chicago: Loyola Press.

Splash of Spring

A splash of spring arrived this weekend; I hope it's just not a teaser!

I was cleaning my apartment yesterday when I abruptly stopped at the sound of birds chirping outside. While many may not view this as a startling event, I was captured by the sound of it because of what it spoke to me - life is peeping through the slumber of winter, waiting to burst with even more energy as the next several months unfold. These were birds, live ones at that, playing near my window seal, singing the praises of spring re-born.

Today, on the way to work, I saw geese frolicking about by the waters of Lake Michigan and the streams along Lake Shore Drive. They, too, seemed to be adding melody to the music masterpiece of spring-time in the air. What refreshing sites and new energy. I think it's the whispering of life cracking the winter chill. I can't help but be thankful.

(The picture above is from the Chicago Botanical Gardens in the spring)

Cool Joe? No.

Ryan is making a concerted effort to get back to the gym! I've come up with a "plan" that entails working out 4 times a week. Instead of going "balls to the wall," my new work-out philosophy is slow and steady. Slow and steady wins the race, right? I figure if I can jog for about a half hour a week I will be doing good. And once the muscular physique that is Ryan (note sarcasm here) gets into the swing of things, maybe I'll be able to increase the speed in which I jog or the length of time on the treadmill. Whatever happens, I am committed to doing something to stay active. Stay tuned - stories are sure to abound!

The natural response to any working out is making sure you have some tunes to motivate and sustain you while your huffing and puffing (and yes, I WILL be huffing and puffing). As such, I've dusted off the 4 year old IPOD and have been listening to some tunes on it this week on the way to work. Where did some of this music come from? Did I have no organization skills when I uploaded this music? Simply put - HOT MESS! I am back to the drawing board with the IPOD: re-organizing, uploading new music and deleting old stuff, finding CDs to get music from, sitting down and uploading my songs, creating playlists, and... well, you know how it is! I'm not particularly excited about this, but I know it will be time well spent when I am about ready to keel over from running and make an ass out of myself in the gym (which may happen anyway, but at least I'll have some Bon Jovi with me, encouraging me to scream out "Living On a Prayer so back off!").

I need to be a cool Joe when I work-out (not cool Joe like Joe the Plumber, there is nothing cool about his political "philosophy"). I'm working out at the campus recreation center, so of course many sport the latest work-out gear, sweat bands, tennis shoes, and the like. My version of "cool Joe" sports the latest spandex shorts, crew socks, and rankly old t-shirts that I don't care about. I don't dress up to work-out, nor will I ever. I chuckle when I watch the news while working out and glance around me - so this is what it is like to be on the "old end" of the age spectrum (at university gym this is certainly true!)? I'd like to think I will bring some sophistication, some class (and certainly sass!), and some wisdom. I'm just not ready to yell out "respect your elders" while panting like I've just rode the Tour De France. I guess I'll have to rely on my charm and charisma, wit and humor. I most definitely will bring the humor - decked out in my "gear" and sporting my work-out routine. Richard Simmons would be proud.