Quiet, Please!

Am I the only one noticing how over-the-top the media and entertainment world is? Every awards show tries to top the last with huge musical numbers, special effects, edgy hosts. Likewise major sporting events like the All Star Game and Super Bowl. I found most of the Super Bowl commercials last night a big yawn. I also tired of watching one or two plays of football and then cutting to another commercial. Nah, I'm not just grumbling because the Colts lost. (By the way, the Saints played a really good game!)

I'm over-stimulated on a regular basis. Most of the kids I teach are over-stimulated. This over-stimulation contributes to short attention spans and hyperactivity, in my humble opinion.

Which brings me to my point. I've been thinking and praying about Lent, which starts in just nine days. I didn't want to simply repeat last years sacrifices of no blogs and no sugar. I did know I needed to focus on dietary changes and on my own short attention span and hyperactivity. I'd love to give up television but that wouldn't be much of a sacrifice for me and would impinge on my husband's leisure time, which doesn't seem fair. I spend way too much time on my new laptop so that is an easy place to start. I'm giving up Facebook, blogs (reading and writing), and non-essential email. I will use the computer for my college assignments and for email communication which keeps me off the telephone (another huge potential time-waster for me).

I'm also going to do an old-fashioned Lenten fast, based mostly on Fat Flush. I'm not dieting for weight loss. I'm eliminating the luxuries of food and concentrating on food as sustenance for a period of penitence. Several years ago I read the book "Trapp Family Singers" about the family in "The Sound of Music." Maria von Trapp's descriptions of traditional Austrian observances of the church calendar fascinated me, particularly her details about Lent. Traditional Lenten fasts removed all sugar, oil, eggs,and dairy products. (Hence the custom of having pancake suppers on Fat Tuesday, to use up all those forbidden items before Ash Wednesday.)

Bring on the quiet, please!