Why I'm Giving Up Social Networking

In my blog post yesterday I shared some history behind the Christian season of Lent and the common practice of fasting during this period. Over the past number of years, I have often observed this season by giving up some sort of food or beverages. Things like chocolate, sugar, and caffeine are just some of the things that I've abstained from during Lent in recent years.

But this year is going to be different. Since I've been eating much healthier over the past year (I've lost 25 pounds since last February), I began seeking the Lord several weeks ago about how I could observe Lent this year. And the thought came to my mind: What about giving up social networking? Although I don't think I'm addicted, I do spend time visiting online sites like Facebook and Twitter several times a day. I also write several blog posts a week and this certainly takes up some of my evening time.

So that it is what I'm going to do. For the next six weeks or so, I will not be participating in any online social networking. No Facebook. No Twitter. No Blog.

Since my work requires it, I will still be available by e-mail and will actually receive e-mail alerts of any messages I receive through the above websites but I won't be responding.

Beginning tomorrow I'm choosing to focus more intently on my relationship with God and my family and am going to be more intentional about spending less time online and more time doing other activities. I'm also hoping to spend more time reading books and less time reading things online. As I've mentioned numerous times before, I think online social networking can be a wonderful thing that helps us stayed connected to those we care about and to learn more about the world.

But it also has the potential to become addictive and distracting. So I'm going to do a bit of a test over the coming weeks to see if I go through any kind of "withdrawal." Just a handful of years ago, none of these things were part of my life. So they're not really necessities. But they can be fun and I'm looking forward to re-connecting with you online in April. God bless.

Mardi Gras, Lent & Self-Denial

While speaking with a loved one last year, I was explaining the season of Lent and Mardi Gras. They asked, "Now, is Fat Tuesday right before Mardis Gras?" Perhaps you might also have some questions on this matter so here's the Cliff notes version on the season...

Lent is a 40-day season of focused prayer, repentance and fasting that takes place each year before Easter, the Sunday that commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The forty days represent the time that Jesus spent in the wilderness immediately preceding the launch of His public ministry. Christians around the world have celebrated this season for a number of centuries.

For those of us in the West, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, the seventh Wednesday before Easter. On Ash Wednesday, worshippers have ashes rubbed on their forehead in the shape of a cross. This is to represent "repentance" -- or the turning from self to God -- during the Lenten season. During the season of Lent, Christians are expected to fast. It could be fasting from food completely or just meat or, in recent years, some have chosen other items like candy, caffeine or even forms of technology, like television or the Internet. Technically, Lent lasts more than 40 days since Sundays were originally a day when one could indulge in whatever was being denied since it is the Lord's Day.

The day before Ash Wednesday is known as Fat Tuesday or "Shrove" Tuesday (or in the French language, Mardi Gras). Carnivale (which means "away with meat") is an extended festival before Lent that is commonly found in Roman Catholic societies. These are times of celebration and feasting before the entrance into the fasting period. This year, Fat Tuesday takes place tomorrow, February 16th, with Ash Wednesday falling the following day on February 17th. Easter Sunday falls on April 4th.

For those of us that are Protestant Christians, the observance of Ash Wednesday and Lent is usually dismissed since many regard those as Catholic holy days. But I think that all Christians can appropriately recognize this season. For a number of years, I have participated in the Lenten season and have found it beneficial. It can be a time of dedicated Bible study, prayer, some sort of fasting and repentance and can be great preparation in leading up to the remembrance of the most significant event in world history, the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

In tomorrow's post I will share what the Lord has led me to do for Lent this year. It might be surprising for you and I hope that you'll consider joining me.

Whatever you might choose to do or not do during this season, I trust that your focus will be on the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. Entering into a time of self-denial and focus on Jesus can help in leading us to a place of maturity where we are more committed to Him throughout the year, whether it is a designated holiday or not. God bless.

The Power of Giving

From Seth Godin:

"If I sell you something, we exchange items of value. You give me money, I give you stuff, or a service. The deal is done. We're even. Even steven, in fact.

That's fine, but it doesn't explain potlatch or the mystery of art or the power of a gift.

If I give you something, or way more than you paid for, an imbalance is created. That imbalance must be resolved.

Perhaps we resolve it, as the ancient Native Americans did, by acknowledging the power of the giver. In the Pacific Northwest a powerful chief would engage in potlatch, giving away everything he owned as a sign of his wealth and power. Since he had more to give away, and the power to get more, the gifts carried real power, and others had to accept his power in order to engage.

Or we resolve it by acknowledging the creativity and insight of the giver. Artists do this every time they put a painting in a museum or a song on the radio. We don't pay for the idea, but we acknowledge it. And then, if it's particularly powerful, it changes us enough that we become givers, contributing to someone else, passing it along.

Sometimes we resolve the imbalance by becoming closer to the brand or the provider. We like getting gifts, we like being close to people who have given us a gift and might do it again.

And sometimes, in the case of international aid, we resent the rich giver, the one with so much more power, and thus create a cycle of dependence that does neither side any good. This sort of gift isn't much of a gift at all.

When done properly, gifts work like nothing else. A gift gladly accepted changes everything. The imbalance creates motion, motion that pushes us to a new equilibrium, motion that creates connection.

The key is that the gift must be freely and gladly accepted. Sending someone a gift over the transom isn't a gift, it's marketing. Gifts have to be truly given, not given in anticipation of a repayment. True gifts are part of being in a community (willingly paying taxes for a school you will never again send your grown kids to) and part of being an artist (because the giving motivates you to do ever better work). Plus, giving a gift feels good."