Lent 2016: Week One Roundup

One Week Down

Only a few days into Lent and I've already been jonesing for a Twitter fix. As one of my friends would tell her young son about raw meat, it's no joke. (Ground beef is no joke, baby J!) It is absurd how much time I can waste on social media. I pick up my phone and get ready to click on an app out of reflex. I also notice how often I will turn to the internet when I'm bored.

Instead, I've been filling my time with (hopefully) better options. My rough schedule: wake up, say morning prayer, read daily readings, breakfast, shower, clean, read fiction, work, evening prayer, dinner, read Imitation of Christ, recreation, bed. Recreation is playing a game or watching a show with the husband, meeting up with a friend or, now that I've purchased more canvases, painting. Sometimes the schedule switches up, like on Friday when I went to a philosophy colloquium (which I should do more often).

The weather must not have gotten the Lent memo, because it is anything but somber outside. We're talking seventies and sunny. It was so nice this week that my husband and I took a few walks around campus. Students were playing ball games, relaxing on the quad with puppies and going for runs. The South certainly is different.

This past weekend included Valentine's day which, for the most part, I've not recognized in my life as the romantic, commercialized day the world usually makes it to be. In fact, in high school I had friends who made the day an anti-Valentine's day (I'm not sure why, but it was probably just to feel cool. We're weird when we're teenagers.). After becoming Catholic, it felt especially strange to consider the day in light of the fact that the day is named for SAINT Valentine, who is the patron of couples. This year, however, I did want Valentine's day to be recognized a little, especially as it's the first year of marriage. The husband was rather nice and complied with my wishes by getting me some very pretty flowers, which I split up into three jars, so there are flowers in every room now. Some of them are purple, so that's nice and liturgical, isn't it? I wish I had a garden so that I could grow flowers and have them in our home all the time.

For a bit of fun, here's a picture of the pet turtle from the school I work at. His name is Tertullian (awesome, right?). He's a pretty alert and active fellow and was following me back and forth in his tank, probably hoping I'd sneak him some food. Sorry, buddy. I had a turtle once and that little lady got super fat (my sister and I blame the overfeeding on her dad). And then we let her play in the garden for a while and she snuck out of the fence and ran away. Not even joking. Anyway, the good, not running away turtle:

The Imitation of Christ

I've started to keep a notebook for Lent to write down my thoughts throughout the season. Likely, it will mostly contain quotations that I like from IoC.

• "Vanity it is to set thy love on that which speedily passeth away, and not to hasten thither where everlasting joy abideth." (1. I)
• "This ought to be our endeavour, to conquer ourselves, and daily to wax stronger than ourselves, and to make some progress for good." (I. III)
• "True peace of heart therefore is found by resisting our passions, not by obeying them." (1. VI)
• "Glory...in God who giveth all things, and above all desireth to give thee Himself." (1. VII)
• "Speak those things that may edify." (1. X)

• "Many seek to fly temptations, and do fall more grievously into them. By flight alone we cannot overcome, but by patience and true humility we are made stronger than all our enemies." (1. XIII)

Hope you all are having a good and holy start to Lent!