The title is courtesy of Polidorable’s twitter account.
I did know one student who gave up chocolate, ice cream and soda so that she could shed some weight before her prom.
I’m not here to judge what people give up for Lent, but don’t we need a deeper meaning of our sacrifice than that?
Usually, I added something on for Lent. An extra hour of prayer. Attend a worship service weekly, that I don’t lead. In seminary, a friend attended morning mass before she went to her church office. She didn’t (or couldn’t) partake in the communion, but she could sit and be in God’s presence and listen to the homily.
For me, the Lent season is where we give up something (or add something) that would bring us closer to God.
I was taught, if you gave up chocolate, every time you have an inkling for chocolate, instead of satisfying that desire, you spent the moment in prayer. Of course, I could be wrong. If that’s the case, I blame my own Sunday school teachers.
For this Lent, I decided to give up caffeine. Why? Because I think I’m too dependent on caffeine. Tired? Let’s drink coffee. Agitated? Diet Coke.
Perhaps I’m more dependent on my caffeine kick rather than my God kick. So, this Lent season, I decided to indulge, if you will, in prayer and meditation instead of caffeine.
Let me just tell you. Two days in, and boy, is it going to be a long Lent season. I always accused my wife of being a caffeine addict. Little did I know, how addicted I was to caffeine. My head hurts. I feel sluggish. So much so, I don’t want to pray. I’d rather drink coffee. Or diet coke.
But, because this is so difficult, I think I’m going to learn more about myself and hopefully more about my relationship with God. I pray that I would learn to depend on God’s presence more than anything that this world can simply provide; to get a boost from God’s spiritual kick, rather than my daily caffeine consumption.
I hope this makes sense. I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t. My head is hurting.
May God bless us during this Lent season, and may our journey bring us closer and closer to God.
Joseph Yoo 
It totally makes sense. I totally agree. Same thing goes for fasting! If you’re gonna diet, go ahead, but don’t use God as an excuse for it. I didn’t get to think much about lenting but I think I’m going to focus. Yup, that’s it. Instead of distracting myself from QT, homework, and other miscellaneouses I’m going to focus! Man, that’s a big one. Huge. I bet I’ll be so good at it that I’ll be able to hear God’s physical voice. Of course, that’s not up to me. But, just sayin’.