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As We Approach Lent

First, the gripes:

Life is still rife with illnesses in my household. My wife and my elderly mother are very ill with a pneumonia. It has been a harsh, bitter weekend frought with worry, stress, and anger. I feel quite angry at the world for the seemingly never ending battles with illness.

I am not overly keen about my blog at the moment. I apparently angered/aggrivated an Internet friend of mine enough that he no longer comments on my site nor via e-mail. Add to this the lack of posts by my baby brother on his blog, as well as a lack of posts on other sites I generally like to read, and I am left with an empty feeling. Even several of the photography blogs I like to visit for a glimpse at visual beauty have become sporadic.

I am not overly excited about teaching/research at the moment. It used to be that I could find solace and refuge in my academic pursuits. Unfortunately, likely because of the illnesses, but pehaps for other reasons as well, my focus, my ABILITY to focus on the intricacies of academia is virtually nill.

I have given up playing in the community orchestra... perhaps forever, if I am lucky it will only be for a while. The creative release I felt from playing my instrument was difficult to measure but readily apparent in my soul. Now, having had to miss several of the largest performances and rehersals we have had this year due to a myriad of factors, I no longer feel as if I belong and have given up on this series of performances. If the illnesses subside and the conductor is willing to have me back, and if I feel emotionally capable, I may attempt to rejoin at the end of March when a new series begins, but the way I feel about it now, it seems an insurmountable task and likely I will not be able to do so.

The national meeting I am scheduled to present at (along with several of my students) at the end of this week is simply another stressor on my already overtaxed nerves. I must do this, but at the same time, I must take care of my family. Hence, I have scurried around to modify travel and flight plans and have attempted to cut my time away from them to the minimum. While several of my students will be arriving early and likely having a good time on the town (as well they should), I will now be flying into the town on Friday morning, taking a taxi to the site of the meeting, giving my talk and (hopefully) seeing both of my student's talks, and then flying back home that afternoon/evening. Instead of a time of academic renewal and enjoyment, and a bit of carousing around town, it will simply be another in the long series of energy wiping, disposition crumbling adventures I get to have these past several weeks.

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So, with the gripes out of the way, I shall briefly introduce what are my planned talks for the next several days at least.... opinions related to the upcoming Lenten season.

As many of you may know, I am an academic, and as such, I tend to approach most things with an academic mindset, be it my work, my play, my religion, or even my hobbies (including the pipe). In my religious life, I am a practicing Roman Catholic. For me, religion is a very individualized topic for each person. For me, my religious faith is best thought of as a "philosophy of life". I am Roman Catholic because of all the religions I have studied (and I have studied many), the Roman Catholic doctrines best fit *my own* feelings on how to live a kind, gentle, helpful life. Any religion could be the right one for others, and I want to assure my readership that any faith (or lack of faith) is perfectly wonderful and appropriate in my book... as long as it is right for *you*. I have often thought about what faith I would be if I were not able to be Roman Catholic. I belive my next choice would be to be Jewish. If neither of those two faiths were available, I would then select either Budhism or be Agnostic.

So, I am planning to offer several essays about a very important religious time in the Roman Catholic faith... the upcoming Lenten Season. Here is the first effort:

In the faith of Roman Catholicism, there are three pillars of Lent.... prayer, fasting, and acts of charity. The Lenten Season is meant to be a time of "Joy", for it ends in the celebration of Easter. Yet, with the notions of the three pillars, for many these sorts of acts do not equate well with "joy". However, in my mind, these three pillars of Lent should be looked at akin to being an exercise program. It may be tough, and we may be sore all over, but if we stick with it, we will begin to feel better about ourselves and become stronger individuals. So, I am still debating how I am going to engage in these three pillars of Lent, but hopefully tommorrow I will have a better idea and will be ready to begin on Wednesday.

PipeTobacco