Just forty six days till Easter; luckily the shops are already well stocked with chocolate eggs to avoid any chance that someone might miss out. Having gorged himself on pancakes yesterday my son is refusing to acknowledge Ash Wednesday, the formal start of Lent, the first of forty days and forty nights when we won’t be wandering in the wild, but some will deprive themselves of a much-loved pleasure in memory of Jesus Christ’s sturdy resistance to all the temptations thrown at him. It does seem to me, hopefully without being blasphemous, that he had quite an advantage. Being an integral part of the Holy Trinity would, you would think, give him more than a head start. Still, he made it through unscathed, which is just as well. How different things might have been had he not…….
I didn’t realise, despite being a Confirmed member of The Church of England, that the Ash in this particular Wednesday, refers to the practice of making the sign of the cross in ash on people’s foreheads, with the embers of burnt palm leaves used to celebrate last year’s Palm Sunday. I am so ignorant.
So now we’re encouraged to make a Lentern sacrifice. My first inclination is to give up giving up things, but that may not be entirely in the spirit of the occasion. What then? I give up chocolate on a daily basis, so I know any chance of success in that direction is remote, verging on non-existent. Alcohol? I can’t help thinking that if the senior member of the Holy Trinity had intended us not to drink, he wouldn’t have invented grapes. It would be an extremely good mental discipline and probably highly beneficial for the liver. OK, put that one on the back burner for a minute. Watching television? Personally I wouldn’t find that especially hard, apart from missing certain major sporting occasions. Perhaps if I put a total hours limit on, of say ten hours? Another one for the back burner. Pigging out on thickly buttered malt loaf at tea time? It’s an occasional treat but definitely one that I could do without and vowing to give it a miss would give me the incentive needed to stop this egregious habit. A definite possibility. This might sound a bit sad and/or arrogant, but I can’t think of anything else I do that the Good Lord or anyone else in a supervisory role would find remotely offensive. How about driving too fast? Obey, Julian, every single speed limit for the next forty days. That would not only be a most socially responsible act, but also one that would require enormous self-discipline. Since attending my second Driver Awareness Course a few months ago I am much better at being totally aware of the limit all the time. There is, however, a difference between awareness and compliance. From a young age and I know that I am not alone in this, every time I close the driver’s door and depress the accelerator, I have this uncontrollable urge to get to my destination as quickly as possible, regardless of whether there’s any time pressure or not. Did you know by the way, that street lights (other than on motorways) indicate a 30 mph limit, in the absence of any other signs? I didn’t, before my day at the DAC. There are others I know who could equally benefit from this particular forfeit. Maybe we should make it a competition? See who can last longest without breaking any limit. There would have to be large dollops of honour involved in this needless to say, but that’s ok. The sheer guilt involved in not owning up to a transgression would demand considerable time spent at the altar of remorse. I like this idea. The back-burners can remain at the back, I will endeavour to spend the next forty days within every speed limit and will enjoin friends to accept the challenge, with a handsome prize for the person who makes it to Palm Sunday without infringing.
Messages are going out even now to those who I know have a bit too much lead in their right foot. This could be a very good challenge which my competitive friends might struggle to adhere to, I’ll keep you posted……
ADayInTheStrifeOf 