ash wednesday
Me personally, I always thought that the spring was an awful time to have a period of reflection and self denial. The Winter Holidays serve that better, or the summer/early fall, such as the time of Ramadan. I fully suspect that the Christians wanted to deny people the many ceremonies like the original Easter, or the Celtic "Beltane" times when a sexual indulgence was a sacrament. However, this year, a Lent can be useful.
Americans do not like to reflect; we come from people that act, that react, that say, as F.Scott Fitzgerald did, "there are no second acts in American lives", meaning among other things that we just do not have time to pause and reflect before getting the good lines and scenes. Our Election seasons do not allow for much reflection or even discussion, as it often boils down to whoever simply gets in line and stays in line. Well, this is a time to reflect, to actually think about who we want to be.
I hate to be partisan, but if you notice, the GOP does not like to reflect; they are quite happy with the idea that American lives are go go go go. One might suspect that the reason they pour so much into their jobs and churches is to avoid having to think. I admit, we have had to learn to challenge them, but we cannot lose our ability to say "STOP."
This is the time when opinions can change, or at least be influenced. Notice that even the GOP realized that they better put someone in who looks different than the usual crop, and that they have to at least Think about what they say, and how they say it. WE, in this time, should be trying to place pressure, and influence thought. Come 2015, the talk will all be about who runs against Hillary, but if we truly use this time, to lean people towards the left, and to let them know that this is not some flash in the pan, then we can determine what sort of candidate even a centrist like Hillary will have to be.
Even if you are not religious, you will probably see the value of focus. This is a time to clear our heads and focus on what we need to do, and need to stop doing, so that when the seasons come around, we will not allow the powers that be to forget what we want.
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