Lent pt. 1: the set up

Over the last couple years I have been continually encouraged to take on some Lenten discipline or another, last year I gave up “liking girls,” because I had just gotten out of a year long relationship and I just wanted to really bring God into my healing process. The year before that I gave up AOL Instant Messenger, because it had kind of absorbed my life, I would spend 2 hours a day on it – yeah... it was bad. This year, I’m taking on something a little different. This year I am “fasting from vanity“ – as Dixon so aptly put it. It’s kind of a culmination of a number of things: things I’ve read, things people have said to me, tensions I’ve been feeling within myself and my culture and wonderings I’ve had since I was very young. My fast will play out like this: I will wear the same thing every day – or rather what looks like the same thing, I decided I’d get multiple different black t-shirts for hygienic reasons – and cutting my hair really short. – if you’ve ever seen David Bazan you’ll have a pretty clear idea of what I look like. The practice goes deeper then just looks, however, I think it force me to face my own insecurities with the way I look, and be present to God in that place of selfishness.

I’m pretty excited about the discipline, because it not only involves abstaining from something, but it’s bigger than that; it inspires me to be postured towards God, since every movement I make, every time I look in the mirror, every time the wind blows I am reminded of the presence of God. I don’t know how it will play out yet, exactly, but I know that I am really nervous about it, and I believe that it’s going to be very meaningful for me.
peace to you.