Beer

Two Bible lessons pretty much bookmark Lent for me. On Ash Wednesday it is traditional to have Psalm 51 read whose theme is "create a clean heart in me". We are asking God to help cleanse ourselves at the beginning of Lent. As Lent comes to a close with "the Three Days" starting on Good Friday, we hear the words of Psalm 22 with the words of anguish "why have you forsaken me?" that Jesus quotes while on the cross. We ask God to be with us and cleanse us at the beginning of Lent, then traditionally we "give up" something for the 40 days. For me it is beer. I really like craft beer. Hardly a day goes by without one (or two!). It is my tradtition to not imbibe in beer during Lent. I have a friend who does this and typically loses several pounds by giving it up, so I guess my motive is to do that. In all the years I've done this, I've not lost any pounds!!! This means the words "why have you forsaken me" ring true. But oh, what a silly thing to think. When I look at "giving up" something for Lent with the idea that it will benefit me clearly gets God's answer as a somewhat snide "gotcha!" It seems, with my experience, that "giving up" is not for personal "gain" (loosing weight). I need to remember the words of Psalm 51 with their plaintive cry of "cleanse". Giving up beer may cleanse me of extra calories, but it seems that's not what God intends for me. To cry out at the end of Lent "why have you forsaken me?" for not losing weight then becomes utterly silly. Losing weight versus dying for the Salvation of all humanity? What a ridiculous idea. I'm going to contine to "give up beer" for Lent, even if I don't drop a few pounds. I'm going to it to help me remember that I've asked God to "create in me a clean heart" and on Good Friday understand that even Jesus cried out to God, his father, in anguish. Why should I expect anything else?