Spring Training: Almsgiving

(Post #4 of 4 in "Spring Training")

You know that scene in Disney's "Robin Hood", where Robin is disguised as a beggar and goes around crying, "Alms? Alms for the poor?"  Do you know what alms are?

The dictionary defines alms as "something (as food or money) given freely to relieve the poor."  During the Lenten season, many people use the Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl to collect their spare change and give that to the poor.  Some raise money for their local Pregnancy Centers.  Others hold food drives or spend time working in the local soup kitchen.  There are many things we can give freely to relieve the poor, not just food or money.  We also have time and talent.

Now, I have never really been an almsgiver.  It's not that I don't care.  It's simply that, many times, I have been among the poor receiving the alms.  So, this is all new to me.  I have been brainstorming to see what I have to offer.  What could I give freely to relieve the poor?

I have talents. I could share them.  But do the poor need music?  I think the answer is yes.

There is very little beauty in poverty.  It's a very ugly way to live.  It makes you do things and be places that you never thought you would ever be.  I have done things to make the rent that I never thought I'd do.  I have considered breaking the law in order to keep a roof over my head and to keep the heat on.

Knowing that you are unable to provide adequately for your children is a burden for a parent that you cannot imagine.  You see yourself as the worst parent in the world.  You begin to turn inward and blame yourself (even if it's not your fault) and self-destruction begins to take over.  Nothing brings you joy and all you can do is numb yourself to the pain.  This is why there are such problems in poor neighborhoods with drugs, alcohol and sexual sin, and all the crime that accompanies those vices.  Anything that kills the pain is good.  Anything that makes the pain more real, like facing down those demons, is bad. Then, it all becomes a vicious cycle.  You feel bad, so you anesthetize yourself, so you can't crawl out of the hole you're in, so you feel worse, and so on, and so on.

But notice: the focus is always on the self.
I am a bad parent.
I caused this situation.
I am the only one that can get us out.

Here's the trick: Fixing the problem is not something that we can do alone.  What breaks the cycle often is turning our eyes to someone else.  Looking to the outside of our own little disaster, and seeing that there are not only people much worse off than we are, but that there is still beauty in this world.  It requires reliance on God.  It requires prayer.  I had to allow God to open my eyes to see the beauty around me..

Sometimes that beauty is a smile. Sometimes it's being able to say that you managed one small thing all by yourself (well, okay, with God's help).  Sometimes it's sharing the gifts that God gave you.  Like the Light of Christ that we share in the passing of the Paschal Candle's flame at Easter Vigil, the beauty is divided and shared but, rather than being diminished, it becomes bright enough to light the night.

That is why I teach people how to sing.  There is a joy that cannot be wiped away in seeing someone come from being silent and afraid, to being confident and unafraid.  There is a sense of the connectedness we have as human beings when we sing together (even if we do it badly).

Beauty is the key that unlocks Joy, and I think it's the best gift that you could give to anyone.  The thing I can give freely is the gift of music God gave me and I share it every chance I get.

This Lent, I am not sure how I will give to the poor, but I am sure that God will direct me. And, I am hoping that I'll be ready to go where He sends me.

If Lent is Catholic Spring Training, then Prayer is the coaching, Fasting is the conditioning and Almsgiving is the scrimmage.  It's all a practice so we can get out there and live our mission as God intends us to.   If we follow through on all three, we'll be ready for Opening Day.  The day God opens the tomb, that is.

Spring Training: Fasting

(Post #3 of 4 in "Spring Training")

Now, I could make the case that by adding more prayer, I am giving up time and I am denying myself that extra cup of coffee in the morning in favor of praying the Office, but that would be disingenuous. I'm having that coffee anyway.  I just put it in a to-go cup.  But, that's what I have been doing for several years, now.

No, really, I'm trying to take the easy way out.  There's no help for it.

Just because I am working on my communication skills doesn't mean that I am paying better attention to my body's needs. In fact, without fasting, prayer doesn't make a lot of sense.

First of all, what is fasting?  The official definition of fasting is not to eat or drink for a certain period of time.  For a Catholic, fasting is the denial (or pushing-away) of a desire for something other than the presence of God in our lives.  While we typically think of fasting as the denying ourselves food or drink, it can also be eschewing creature comforts, like television or a certain musical group that we like to listen to.  Fasting is designed to give us a hole to fill.  And, of course, that hole is supposed to be filled up by doing something for God.  That's why fasting without praying is just going hungry and almost always leads to the collapse of your three-legged table of Lent

Fasting is practiced in a specific way on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (for Roman Catholics) but fasting is also where we get the idea of giving up something for Lent.  Lent is a time where we get lean and mean for the Kingdom of God.  We already talked about sharpening our skills of communication, through Prayer. But fasting provides us with a "diet plan" for our Lenten conditioning.

In the course of carrying out our mission for God, we will likely be called upon to give up big things that we love.  We may have to move from our dream house, or give up our job if our consciences are violated.  We might be called to move away from our families, like missionaries or professed religious. These big sacrifices are overwhelming to think of for most of us.  But, if we have trained, little-by-little, they don't seem so awful once they are required of us. Like a marathon runner who has done the 5K, then the 10K and then the half-marathon, we are training during Lent to run the marathon.  These little sacrifices, lead us to bigger ones. and the bigger ones lead us to a more full appreciation of what it meant for Jesus to hang on the cross and die for us.

I haven't given anything up for Lent in years.  I think the last time I tried to give something up, it was Dr. Pepper.  I was an addict.  Truly. I would look through the couch for change if I ran out of Dr. Pepper.  By day three, I had the most excruciating headache that I gave up my giving up.  Lenten FAIL.

Last year, I had a health scare and it kind of woke me up.  I am not getting younger, or healthier.  In order to live the mission that God is sending me on (which I believe is to sing and share the gift of music,) I was going to need to get a handle on my health.  Right before Lent began, I realized that I was committing the sin of gluttony.  It was like a thunderbolt.  I always wanted more.  More of everything . And nothing was more important that that "more for me".  I had to make a change.  I was crowding out God's plan for me.  I was gaining weight and developing health problems that affected my voice.   My energy level was dropping so much so that I could not adequately do my job.

When I went to my confessor, he suggested I start with something less ambitious than the great Dr. Pepper fast and build up.  So, I began taking only one portion of food at meals.  I didn't serve myself seconds.  I would have dessert, but, just one portion.  I started to drink some diet pop, but every now and then, I would still have one with all the calories intact.  That was a big one.  The health problems began to stabilize.  I felt much better and I was really doing a much better job with all my pursuits.  But, like all humans, I have let things slip.

So, that's what I'm doing this year.  I am giving up sugared (or corn-syruped) soda pop.  Instead, I am drinking diet soda and I am cutting myself back to one portion of food at a meal.  And, when I want that extra piece of chicken, I am going to remember that in order to be ready for the race (much less to win it) you have to train.

One of the things that Spring Training provides for athletes is a re-commitment to their goals, individually and as a team.  So that's how I'm looking at this: I am recommitting my body, (through fasting) as well as my spirit (through prayer) to the service of God.  When he calls me, where ever He sends me, I'd like to be ready to go.

Spring Training: Prayer

(Post #2 of 4 in the series "Spring Training")

The first pillar of Lent is Prayer.  Whether we do this as a community, by adding devotions such as the Stations of the Cross or Lenten Vespers to our schedules; or we add a rosary to our daily prayer life, Lent requires a little extra prayer.

Prayer is an essential part of preparing ourselves for our mission in life, and make no mistake, we all have a mission. Finding out what that mission is takes communication.  Prayer is a communication skill that must be practiced on a regular basis.  If we are not praying, then how will we know what God wants from us?  How will we recognize His movement in our lives?  The answer is that we won't.

Like an athlete during Spring training, during Lent, we are "coached" by the church to be more focused on bettering our prayer skills.  As with any relationship we would like to maintain, our relationship with God requires that we talk to Him, and more than that, we must listen to Him.

Recently, I have been having a lot of trouble managing my prayer time.  I have become complacent and not focused.  I find myself rattling off my prayers and not paying attention to the words I am actually saying. This is not good communication.  It's like someone who's watching TV and saying "Yeah... Uh-huh... Sure." while   someone else talks about their day. I'm not listening. And I'm also not saying anything.

Bad. All around.  But how can I improve it?

One of my favorite things to do is to pray the Divine Office. I love how all of the psalms of the day fit together so perfectly. But, in reality, I am so bad at organizing my time that hours get dropped and I don't spend the time I need to spend with the texts.  In order to get the benefit of reading the Psalms, you can't be racing through them.

This Lent, I hope to be more reasonable about the time that it will take to say my prayers and where I will say them.  Last year, I just stopped where ever I was and said them,  The school cafeteria? Not the best, most prayerful spot.

If I am going to make this work the right way, then my day has to be planned around my prayer, not the other way around.  I think that's the major mistake I made last year.  Prayer comes first.  Everything else follows.

My goal, this week, is to set up my schedule for the hours I will be praying.

How will you manage your prayer life, this year?

Spring Training

The Cincinnati Reds at Spring Training in Goodyear, AZ.

According to Punxsutawney Phil, Spring is right around the corner. And so is Lent.

My daughter keeps asking me what I'm giving up for Lent and I keep telling her, probably nothing.  I will probably pray more (that's what I usually do).  Last year, I added Daytime Prayer to my prayers and it was a huge challenge.  The year before, my husband and I decided to say the rosary every night before bed.  That was a challenge, too.

My daughter is most insistent, however, that I give something up, but I am such a spiritual wimp.  I just don't fast very well.  And I am one of those people who, if I can't do it (at least close to) perfectly, I won't do it at all.  But really, this is no excuse.

It's time for me to face facts.  Lent is not easy.  And it's not supposed to be.

Lent is training for the Big Event.  Lent is learning about how to keep the faith even when you are not doing well.  Lent is learning how to deny your "self" and your desires in favor of giving to others.  In light of all the tragedies and troubles facing us in the world today, truly there is no better time to get into good spiritual shape. What is the best way to do that?

The three things that make up the heart of Lenten observation (or the "pillars of Lent") are Fasting, Prayer and Almsgiving.  Like a three-legged table, just two legs will not make the table stand on it's own.  All three are necessary for stability.  So it is with Lenten observance. For me, this has not been a very well-balanced table.  In fact, it's kind of lying on the floor sideways, and sometimes, by the fourth week of Lent, it's just a flat board on the floor.

When athletes do Spring Training, they focus on three main things: their specialty skill set, their health and their mind-set.  So it is with us in our own Catholic Spring Training.  Just like any good conditioning program, I think that perhaps what I need is a good plan of action, to get me ready to train.

This week, I'll be working on posts for my Spring Training.  I'll focus in on the three pillars of Lent and I invite all of you to join me in planning. Suggestions are more than welcome!