Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent for Catholics.  For forty days, Catholics prepare for Easter, reflecting Jesus’ forty days of solitude in the desert.  They are asked to give up meat on designated days, live more simply, and deprive themselves of something distracting from God in their lives or perhaps add something to their daily lives that can enhance their connection with the divine.

Please don’t leave, yet!  I’m not going to get all preachy.  I grew up Catholic and work in about as Catholic an environment as you can so I can’t really escape the Lenten season.  My own spirituality is often pretty scattershot, but in the last few years I’ve begun to see a lot more value in the tradition I grew up in, even if I can’t see settling down and rejecting all other comers right now.  Lent is one of those things that I’m reclaiming this year.  I like the idea of sacrifice in a communal environment.  There is a spiritual connection, no matter what your orientation, of sacrificing something at the same time millions of others are going on the same journey.

It is interesting to me how many people choose to give up things like sweets, soda, and junk food.  A lot of these people may have ulterior motives (they can lose weight while serving God!) but it says a lot about how difficult it is to break ourselves away from food addictions.  How terrible is it if people need the hand of God to push them into quitting?  Everyone knows how bad these processed foods are for us, yet we need them so badly, after only forty days many Catholics are falling all over themselves to have a bag of chips.

This Lent, I’m also going the “eating better” route, half for rooting toxins out of my system and half for trying to be greener.  I’m committing to giving up refined sugars and red meat.  I’ve actually stumbled already by eating some chocolate my Mom sent me for Valentine’s Day, but it is chocolate from Mom so it hardly counts, right?  I’ve chosen the refined sugars because it is an addiction I can overcome and has literally been called a poison.  I chose red meat because it has the most negative impact on climate change of anything in my diet.  I’d also love to be 90% vegetarian one day, for the same reasons, and this is a great first step.

Food products aren’t the only thing Catholics are focusing on sacrificing.  I think it’s awesome that the Archdiocese of Washington (where else?) has created a Carbon Fast Calendar for Lent 2010.  The calendar gives one action a day to improve the environment.  Most people who are already environmentally friendly will have done a lot of the items on the list, but it’s great for those that aren’t so green.  For example, today’s tip is to turn down your thermostat a degree.  Another tip leads you to the New American Dream’s Wallet Buddy, which I’d never seen before.  The print-out (be sure to print it on scrap paper) lists questions to ask before buying a product.  I love the saying on it “Every dollar I spend is a statement about the kind of world I want & the quality of life I value.”  Now that should be printed on the inside of every wallet.

I don’t want to make Lent sound like it’s full of glorified New Year’s Resolutions, but a season of making changes to improve your life and your world as a community transcends religion.  I’ll be keeping up with the tips in the Carbon Calendar as well as working on my own Lenten sacrifices and sharing those experiences here.  If you’re observing Lent (or want to follow along without making it a part of Lent, per se) let me know how your journey is going!