Well, for those of us who observe Lent, today is Fat Tuesday – the last day to pig out before we begin 40 days of self-deprivation.
I must admit that I have never been a fan of the term Fat Tuesday. Hearing it always makes me think that Fat Tuesday should be riding around with Fast Eddie and Big George in a Cadillac doin’ da Boss’s bidness. But perhaps I have just seen too many gangster movies.
Now normally, Fat Tuesday is a processed party and a high fructose feast in our house. We have pizza rolls and candy and pop and chips and usually gorge ourselves sick. Yes, very attractive I know, but it’s the sad truth. This year, we’re trying to moderate our celebration. The kids do want McDonald’s so we will probably indulge them in that. Otherwise, I bought some fair trade chocolate over the weekend and baked peanut butter cookies and sugar cookies last night.
Speaking of the cookies, my baking mojo seems to have left me. I made bread earlier in the week and forgot to add salt. Then my peanut butter cookie batter turned out very dry and crumbly last night. And to top things off, I got sidetracked adding flour to my sugar cookies and added too much. None of these were fatal mistakes, but they definitely detracted from the finished product.
As for Lent, it has been difficult to pin down just what to give up this year. Most of the items I would normally abstain from – pop, candy, fast food – have already been largely eliminated from my diet. Thinking back to the more traditional Lenten fast, individuals use to be much more rigorous than we are nowadays. The Great Lenten Fast prescribed to by the Orthodox faith seems to be the most limited with meat, fish, eggs, dairy, wine and oil all prohibited. In medieval times, prior to modern refrigeration and food preservation processes, it is hard to imagine what was left to eat other than bread and water.
After some review, I finally settled on eggs as being my main Lenten sacrifice. I eat eggs daily for breakfast so it will involve some hardship for me to eliminate them from my diet, and the fact that people have traditionally fasted from them during Lent appeals to me as well. It is my understanding that the term Shrove (or Pancake) Tuesday is derived from the practice of families making pancakes to use up all their eggs prior to the start of Lent. I made French Toast and eggs for breakfast this morning and will probably make pancakes tonight for dinner and to freeze.
While I was researching Lenten fasts, I came across the following article that may be of interest if you too are observing Lent. It appears to be written from an Anglican perspective and offers some food for thought:
http://maggidawn.typepad.com/maggidawn/2005/02/giving_it_up_ii_1.html
I must admit that I have never been a fan of the term Fat Tuesday. Hearing it always makes me think that Fat Tuesday should be riding around with Fast Eddie and Big George in a Cadillac doin’ da Boss’s bidness. But perhaps I have just seen too many gangster movies.
Now normally, Fat Tuesday is a processed party and a high fructose feast in our house. We have pizza rolls and candy and pop and chips and usually gorge ourselves sick. Yes, very attractive I know, but it’s the sad truth. This year, we’re trying to moderate our celebration. The kids do want McDonald’s so we will probably indulge them in that. Otherwise, I bought some fair trade chocolate over the weekend and baked peanut butter cookies and sugar cookies last night.
Speaking of the cookies, my baking mojo seems to have left me. I made bread earlier in the week and forgot to add salt. Then my peanut butter cookie batter turned out very dry and crumbly last night. And to top things off, I got sidetracked adding flour to my sugar cookies and added too much. None of these were fatal mistakes, but they definitely detracted from the finished product.
As for Lent, it has been difficult to pin down just what to give up this year. Most of the items I would normally abstain from – pop, candy, fast food – have already been largely eliminated from my diet. Thinking back to the more traditional Lenten fast, individuals use to be much more rigorous than we are nowadays. The Great Lenten Fast prescribed to by the Orthodox faith seems to be the most limited with meat, fish, eggs, dairy, wine and oil all prohibited. In medieval times, prior to modern refrigeration and food preservation processes, it is hard to imagine what was left to eat other than bread and water.
After some review, I finally settled on eggs as being my main Lenten sacrifice. I eat eggs daily for breakfast so it will involve some hardship for me to eliminate them from my diet, and the fact that people have traditionally fasted from them during Lent appeals to me as well. It is my understanding that the term Shrove (or Pancake) Tuesday is derived from the practice of families making pancakes to use up all their eggs prior to the start of Lent. I made French Toast and eggs for breakfast this morning and will probably make pancakes tonight for dinner and to freeze.
While I was researching Lenten fasts, I came across the following article that may be of interest if you too are observing Lent. It appears to be written from an Anglican perspective and offers some food for thought:
http://maggidawn.typepad.com/maggidawn/2005/02/giving_it_up_ii_1.html
2 comments:
What religion are you? Just curious. Most people it seems don't even realize Orthodox Christianity even exists. My family became orthodox almost 6 yrs ago. Our lent does not begin for a few weeks still.
I know you've figured out something to give up already but what about adding something in. I am spiritually. Such as extra prayer time or time to read the Bible or something to lift you spiritually each day? Or some kind of out reach.
Hi Tara,
I am Roman Catholic.
Theological differences aside, I've always had a great admiration for the Orthodox faith. I think it is just a beautiful religion with very meaningful traditions. I would never leave Catholicism, but we seem to have modernized in recent decades which I think is too bad. But that's a whole other topic!
I do have a Lenten devotional book that I read from to add to my daily prayers. The devotional is nice, but I am still searching for something that really touches my soul.
Thanks for your comments!
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