A Matter of Perspective

I don’t know whatever or not to classify my Lent experience as going well or not so far. Not that its been too difficult for me to keep, but surprisingly the complete opposite as I actually managed to get used to drinking sugar free tea without actively cringing a bit thinking how much better it would be with a teaspoon or two of sugar mixed in. Still at this point I am honestly not sure if this is making the whole thing turn into an empty sacrifice or not, now that the challenge is gone and along with it the constant reminder which in a way has at times become an empty going through the motions of not sweetening my tea. In a certain sense, there seemed to be a certain spiritual high that went along early one before I was used to unsweetened tea in the sense that during the first few days I thought it was best compared to trying to take a complete shower using only cold water, when the hot water faucet was within easy reach but voluntarily left untouched while shivering through the entire cold shower. Although even though the initial blessing of the challenge is long gone, I’m starting to wonder if there is still something else present if one things in terms of simplicity. In the sense that we may be so attached to certain things in life that we have come to view as necessities, that it takes a week or so of separation from them to view them within their true context of the blessings and luxuries. Not only through the little things like realizing that it is possible to drink any tea unsweetened but also in the countless things around us that we take as given instead of gifts and blessings from God.

Lent is Not for Everyone

Lately, I’ve been struggling to gain a better understanding about the meaning and purpose of Lent. At its core, I’d say that one of the fundamental truths about Lent is that it is not for everyone; as anything else would ultimately end up missing the point. Thus to me the whole mandatory and strict forms of observing Lent in the past, is what gives me the most trouble as its legalistic nature misses the point. As in the end it does not matter whatever or not one choses to partake in Lent or not; because Lent points forward to Easter with its message that Jesus has already done everything for us. Thus what Lent has often become in the past seems to be a sad irony of missing the point of the message of Easter.

At the same time, I am not saying that Lent does not have a purpose as if anything I’d say its real meaning is probably easier for Christians from traditions that do not impose mandatory Lent observance upon their congregations. Likewise I now believe that there is in fact some Biblical grounds for Lent on such a voluntary basis as it goes along with the principal of the Nazarite Vow found in Numbers 6:1-21. In the sense that both Lent and the Nazarite Vow is a voluntarily made commitment to dedicate oneself for a limited amount of time in “special service” to Yahweh; although Lent is done so in a more personalized and practical form when practiced by the people of Yahweh under the New Covenant. In that sense I think the best way I’ve heard Lent described so far has been as a season of anticipation and restoration. In the sense that as a whole it created a heightened sense of anticipation towards Easter that is rarely felt as compared to Christmas – although that might not be for the right reasons, regardless I’m not going to get into it here. Likewise the whole concept of choosing to partake in a Lenten fast or sacrifice, brings with it, if done for the right reasons, brings with it a sense of blessing and restoration in our spiritual walk with God. Personally for me so far this year Lent is becoming a learning experience through experience which is something new for me. In the sense that I felt called and acted and only then started to understand its meaning and implications in a way that I’m sure that I never would have gotten if I would have simply taken the time to research it in a detached setting like one does for most academic papers.

Early Lent Reflections

I have already been amazed by the richness that my Lenten fast from sweetened tea has already brought forth. Still to be honest I still have no idea where the initial idea of giving up sugar in tea come from in the first place even came from in the first place, but it is already proving to be fruitful for me. At the same time I’ve also been finding tea without sugar to be much more difficult than I originally expected, but despite the difficulty I’m glad that I decided to go through with it as it seems to be becoming more meaningful. So far I’ve been managing to keep my normal mix of teas although some are a lot more difficult than others, the hardest being breakfast teas (ie English Breakfast and Irish Breakfast) where the lack of sugar shows itself the most to the point that it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference if I drink it plain or British style (milk but no sugar). Still, I realize that I could simply fall back to drinking only Puerh until Easter but I’m determined to not go that route as it would end up turning Lent into an empty sacrifice that costs me nothing, and thus missing the point entirely.

Also I just realized that I should probably take the time to explain what Puerh (pronounced as poo-air – also spelled as Pu Erh, Puer and Pu Er) is as chances are you’ve never heard of it. In short Puerh is a Chinese double fermented tea (green tea is not fermented, black tea is fermented once) which is unlike any other tea out there as it has a has a nice mellow and smooth taste to it that never gets bitter regardless of how long one may over brew it. To date everyone who has tried it when I made it has liked it and often comment with surprise about it being a tea that tastes good without needing any sugar. Still writing this has gotten me thinking about my whole relationship with sugar and tea in a way that without Lent would have never come out for me as it makes me realize how much I am like two of my tea drinking friends who had surprised reactions when they found out what I was doing for lent the one saying that “the idea of drinking sugarless tea completely turns me off” and the other “oh wow thats a big thing … tea without sugar is a scary idea to me”. Especially since if it wasn’t for a matter of pride I probably would have never even tried Puerh without sugar, during the tea sampling session I gave Shaina last fall. In short, after I finished brewing the three types of Chinese teas that I brought I was about to say something about Shaina “forgetting” to get out sugar and spoons, when she picked up one of them and starting drinking it. At that point I became too ashamed to say anything about sugar and samples the selections of teas plain for the first time with Shaina but without letting on to the fact that I was doing so; leaving me surprised that Puerh was a tea that actually tasted better without sugar which actually got in the way of its enjoyment unlike any other tea that I knew about.

Lent Reflections

Personally I’ve never been at a church that every really placed any emphasis on Lent beyond a Good Friday reflections service let along an Ash Wednesday service or anything remotely related to observing a Lenten fast of giving something up. So I pretty much grew up with the impression of Lent being more of a thing that I only heard about in bits and pieces from Catholic friends that I did not completely understand. Still even when I did understand what it was later on the idea never really caught on with me at the time for a variety of reasons. First of which being the whole thing of Lent never being mentioned anywhere in the Bible but growing out of church tradition, which while I’m sure it was started with good intentions even then can never be view with equality with Scripture. Also at the time I was quick to think of the whole “better to not vow than to vow and not do” principal which is mentioned numerous times in the Bible, along with the whole thing seeming a bit legalistic to me. While I was also bothered by the sense of creativity in compensation that Lent seems to naturally encourage, like “I gave up ice cream and then eating more cookies or chips instead” which in my opinion miss the point. Or at least that was my viewpoint from the outside looking in through what may be a few dirty windows.

Regardless that has changed this year after Laura convinced me to go through with it and observe Lent this year. Well I guess I it was more of her indirectly convincing me yesterday when we were talking over IM and the issue of Lent came up which of course triggered the standard questions of are you doing anything for Lent this year. To which I originally answered not really in terms of giving up anything having never been at a church that stressed Lent but that I was planing on doubling up my Bible readings closer to Easter and read through the four Gospels at least once if not twice in different translations. After that I threw in a bit about a week ago that I somewhat considered possibly giving up sugar in tea for Lent but wasn’t sure it was “right” to use given that I already drink my Puerh tea without sugar which is one of my core teas. Which to be quite honest, I wasn’t sure why I even bothered to mention it as it was one of those considers as in “ok I’ll think about it .. hmmm no, ok I considered it”. She replied that it was hard for her to really say as the idea of drinking sugar less tea completely turns her off, which hit me as being the same reaction to her no chocolate Lent idea, which she also admitted having towards hers as well. At that point looking back now it was clearly a “God thing” as I started to wonder what I was doing as I told her that got me seriously considering to go through with it, while brewing a cup of Assam black tea which I had only had before with a few teaspoons of sugar before to try plain before making up my mind. To which I had a mixed reaction of it being not as bad as I though it might have been, while not being as enjoyable as it would have been loaded with sugar, and decided to go through with it even though it would be a bit of a stretch. I also mentioned about how the slight bitterness to unsweetened black tea could be a bit of a personal focus symbol to meditate upon how it is nothing compared to the price that Jesus paid for our redemption. Regardless this whole new Lent thing for me will hopefully prove to be a fruitful experience that is done and continues to be with a proper focus for the right reasons. I’ll post further reflections on this as they occur and as always any comments and thoughts are always welcome.