Alternative To Fasting This Lenten Season

The 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter, is called the Lenten Season. Christians, specifically the Roman Catholics, as a show of penance, would relish the opportunity to “give something up”. Lent seems to serve more as an agreed-upon time to crop out bad behavior — but only temporarily. Unlike New Year’s resolutions where we are demanded to change some bad habits in our lives and try to make it as permanent as possible.

Fasting, according to Wikipedia.org means the reduction of one's intake of food to one full meal a day. This may or may not be accompanied by abstinence from meat when eating. These days, fasting and or abstinence comes in many forms. Although choosing what to sacrifice is a matter of personal choice which is tailored on what the individual will miss the most. You may temporarily eliminate eating chocolates, alcohol, going out to movies or anything, but come to think of it, why not eliminate the use of technology? In today’s fast evolution of high tech gadgets like cell phones, laptops, iPods, PSPs, digital cameras and the like, it’s hard for most people to live their lives without them. Try banning text messaging. Try not to use your laptops or computers to update your profiles on Friendster, Flixter, My Space and other social networks. Can you live without it? Can you live without Yahoo Messenger?

There's no provision in the Bible that condemns the usage of electronic devices. The idea isn't so much that technology is bad. It's just with all the Facebook, Twitter feeds, and iPhones, we're apt to forget that the three-dimensional world is pretty cool, too. According to NPR.org website, Pope Benedict himself sent a mass text message to thousands of youths in Australia last year. And in January, the Vatican unveiled its very own YouTube channel. The church has accepted, and is even encouraging, utilizing Lent as a time to disconnect from the digital world is an opportunity we should seize, and with vigor. Think about it: Is the idea of going a day without food less unsettling than the idea of going a day without e-mail? Would you sooner swap your significant other than quit using your phone? If the answer to either of these questions is "yes," you may be spending a little too much time in the virtual world, and not enough in the real one. Whatever you choose to sacrifice this Lent, the point is to reconnect our relationship with God and if we are at par with His teachings.

Have a blessed observance of the Holy Week.