The Strange Case of the Disappearing Lent

Lent disappeared. Somehow without my noticing, the 40-day period before Easter vanished.

Hot Cross Bun

Well, I'm being alarmist: Lent isn't gone for everybody. Catholics still celebrate Lent -- I know because I've seen people walking around with ashes on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday and talking about giving up  soda or chocolate or booze for Lent. I've bought hot cross buns in the grocery store and noticed fish appearing on menus.

But in most evangelical churches, mine included, Lent is not mentioned. Possibly it disappeared for the same reason other liturgical standards like the Lord's Prayer, the Doxology and the Apostles' Creed are gone:  to distance our brand of Protestantism from Catholicism or to eliminate rituals that might be intimidating or confusing to new churchgoers.  Now, that's commendable and our congregation has grown enormously in the past five years, but in trying to do away with traditions and rituals, I wondered if we have thrown the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. Perhaps some Christian traditions like Lent should be retained because of their deep meaning to a longtime Christian.

Forty years ago, in Creston Iowa where I grew up, Lent was observed (pardon the pun) religiously. The church used Lent as a time to prepare for the holiest day in the Christian religion, Easter. We didn't go so far as to give things up (that would've been too Catholic, even for Presbyterians), but Lent was the subject of many a sermon.

The best parts of Lent in Creston were the community Lenten services. Each Sunday night a different church hosted. Being a prodigious walker in those days,  I got a chance to see the insides of churches I had walked by. I also learned that there were many ways to worship within Protestantism, even in our small town.I remember seeing a fold-down kneeler and having no idea what it was until I saw somebody using it. Over the course of the six weeks, our family visited many churches, heard a variety of messages, and were treated to supper after each service in the church basement. It was an ecumenical and special way to lead up to Easter.

I miss Lent, so to ready myself for Easter, I've been reading daily selections from the book Bread and Wine-- Readings for Lent and Easter. This poem was in the book:

To Keep a True Lent

Is this a Fast, to keep

  the larder lean?

   And clean

From the fat of veals and sheep?

Is it to quit the dish

  of flesh, yet still

     To fill

the platter high with fish?

Is it to fast an hour,

  Or ragg'd to go,

     Or show

A down-cast look and sour?

No: 'tis a Fast to dole

    Thy sheaf of wheat

         And meat

With a hungry soul.

It is to fast from strife

  And old debate,

     And hate;

To circumcise thy life,

To show a heart grief-rent;

   To starve thy sin,

      Not bin;

And that's to keep thy Lent.

Robert Herrick

Meds

"There are no drugs without side effects."  Dr. Parks

 Today I was talking with a friend who was hospitalized last weekend for heart problems. She has had heart trouble for years and it follows a predictable pattern. "I know why I end up in the hospital. I take the drugs that they want me to take for awhile but then they start making feel bad, so I quit taking them." Eventually she ends up at the ER.   After experiencing my own week of drug-related horror, I can relate.

It started simply enough. On Saturday, I e-mailed my MS doctor, asking for a drug to replace the antidepressant that I have been taking for seven months or so (yes, unfortunately, people with MS tend to be depressed sometimes). By and large the drug worked pretty well, but there were a few side effects I hoped would go away if I took a different drug.

My doctor responded immediately and prescribed a different medication, which I picked up on Monday. Ron left Tuesday for a business conference in Florida, and I naively hoped that by the time he returned on Saturday, I would be a better, happier person.

But if you want God to laugh, tell Him your plans.

I started feeling bad on Tuesday and by Wednesday I had come down with a bad cold so I stayed in and rested. I was lonely and miserable, but fortunately by Thursday I felt better. I was so busy I didn't notice the weird symptoms I was experiencing:  vivid nightmares, severe and frequent hot flashes, crying jags and nausea.

That night I went to dinner with my book group, then to hear humanitarian Greg Mortensen speak (our group read his book Three Cups of Tea).  Something was amiss though: Mortensen didn't talk very long, but I felt so uncomfortable and fidgety I wanted to jump out of my skin.

Friday and Saturday I helped at the Rochester library's used book sale, but then came home and collapsed. Ron came back Saturday night, but my condition continued to decline.  I wondered if this was what Hell was like.

On Sunday night, I finally cracked and e-mailed my doctor, telling her about the side effects I'd been experiencing.  What she said in response surprised me.

 "I don't think the side effects are from the new drug.  I think they are more likely from stopping the old one." Basically, I was going through withdrawal.  Wow, no wonder withdrawal horror stories are so common. My doctor recommended gradually taking a pill of the old drug every other day for a week then every third day for a week, weaning myself gradually off it.

I jumped on her advice and today I felt much better; however, I learned a lesson in caution. Nothing is free, least of all a cure for the age-old complaint of depression.  Take all drugs with care, realizing there are tradeoffs. Every benefit comes at a price, and it's up to us to determine what we are willing to pay.

Signs of spring (and a nasty cold)

The last couple of days I've been feeling really bad, having come down with the cold that seems to be making the rounds. I laid low, spending time lying on the couch reading. Nyquil and Vicks VapoRub have become my good friends.

This morning when I got the newspaper, I noticed crocuses peeking through the leaves in front of our porch. Spring is coming, and that's encouraging.