Wednesday, 25 February 2009
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My Friend Has Given Up Talking for Lent
For the next 40 days of Lent, my friend has decided not to speak. Now, I'm not Christian or Catholic, but I am really impressed. I tried not talking for a day in high school with my friend. She ended up yelling at these 2 upperclassmen girls that kept bullying us... but I kept going. It was hard, and that was only one day! But forty days... wow.
As a Muslim, I love God, too, but I'm just thoroughly impressed with his dedication. It's just out of the ordinary. I read about the guy who was giving up his girlfriend for Lent on Datingish, which sounded a bit extreme, but doesn't this, too? I like it.
It's a change from the regular, TV, chocolate, and other impulse things. You can refrain from TV and chocolate without thinking about God too hard (most of the time. I'm not sure about some of my girlfriends, though. ^_^). It reminds me of Ramadan for Muslims. Ramadan is the 28-30 days (depending on the Islamic lunar calendar) that we cannot eat from when the Sun is up to when the Sun is down. That includes no water, no food, no sex, no cigarettes, no medicine. It got pretty hard, especially during soccer practice. I'd run 3 miles and just have to sit around for an extra few minutes more than everyone. Before taking a sip of water, I had to think of why I was doing this. Before taking Tylenol for my headache, I had to think why I was doing this.
To keep yourself from your girlfriend or to keep yourself from talking, that takes a lot of power and thought. If he begins to talk, he has to think of why he is doing this.
I'm glad he's found a way to worship God. He didn't start out as someone you'd expect to be so devout, but it's lovely, nonetheless. I enjoy talking about God with him and how wonderful He is. He will only speak out loud when he is reading the Bible or praising God.
"The purpose of this is to meditate on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This time of observation ends on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. I have had friends who have given up all different forms of media, a certain food, coffee, etc."
He will type and will always have a notebook around so he can write out messages.
"Friends, I ask for your prayers and support because, like I said this journey for me will not be an easy one. I will still use Facebook, but my usage will be minimal. If you message me, I will message you back, but my replies will be minimal. I will be carrying a notebook and a pen with me so in social settings I can communicate in some form. Although that will also be very little. Please do not refrain asking me to hang out. I need each of you. I need your company and the fellowship of my brothers and sisters."
"My voice will not be heard by anyone but God.
My heart will groan for the broken.
My tears will be shed for the hurting.
My smile and soul will rejoice, always."Do you think you could do it? Would you do it?
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- From: garlicface@xanga
- Name: Padma Patil
- About Me: My interests include: cupcakes, Harry Potter, World of Warcraft, nutrition and exercise, Star Wars, Blink 182
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Comments (66)
I would give up homework for Lent, if I had my way...
that is ridiculous. it seems like a great challenge, though, and your friend has the right mindset...maybe i'll try this in the future. wow. i'm incredibly impressed.
I don't think my profs or my supervisor would appreciate if I gave up talking for Lent.
Wow. That's pretty extreme.
I don't see how depriving yourself of one thing or another is worshiping God. Isn't it kind of a slap in God's face to refuse to do something (or consume something) that is completely natural?
I am impressed. I wrote a post about how most of the things that people give up up for Lent aren't that big of a sacrifice when you think about it. Giving up talking can be a huge sacrifice for someone,
I don't see how it's going to make them a better person... maybe I just don't get the point of religion when it makes you do pointless things.
silence is not a bad thing to practice-more of us should. we talk needlessly (and quite often endlessly) if you think about it. we seem to be afraid of silence.
my aunt used to tell me you can't hear someone else when you're talking-that can include God.
I think it's wonderful.
Not trying to be negative, but is that possible?! I don't think it can be done. (Maybe that's because I talk so much.) Plus, I'm a female. I'm thinking of giving up high-fructose corn syrup. I've already started some now, and I already feel a difference. It seems that my anxiety has gone.
I think I'd just get depressed.
There was someone back in (I think) year 1999 or 2000 who gave up talking for a year. No talking at all. Notebooks and pencils were how he communicated. For one year, he observed people and how they communicated with each other. He observed when people communicated and what he could analyze from their communication. He then wrote a paper on it...I can't remember what it was called. He learned so many things and learned so much more than he ever could have learned in an Ivy League University.
I think I should try this....but being in career path that REQUIRES we empathize with our people by talking, it doesn't offer the prime situation for this sacrifice.
silliness
@LadyLibellule@xanga - It's not seen like that. As someone put it tonight at youth group, it's not really giving something up; it's making more room for God. The time I don't spend, say, watching TV, I use to pray/do devotions/read the Bible. It's also a lesson in sympathy, letting something go knowing that Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert. My pitiful little plight doesn't seem like much next to that.
Maybe God does get annoyed when people deprive themselves of stuff, but the God I believe in is loving, and I think He sees it the way a mother would see a bouquet of dandelions from her child. It isn't much at all, but it means a lot anyway.
@QuantumStorm@xanga - Haha, that's pretty funny. I'd give up homework too.
I had a friend in college attempt this and he had a seziure. I'm so not kidding.
@emilythesaint@xanga - He had a seizure from not talking...?
@amissong@xanga - There is a point. It's a bit about spirituality, which isn't entirely about religion. You can be spiritual but not religious, or you can be both.
To keep yourself from talking/eating/whatever, you have to think of why you're doing it. If you're deprived of something for so long, you enjoy it's worth. You appreciate what God has given you.It's about empathizing and sympathizing with others.
It's about self-control. Too many people do things impulsively.
It's about putting aside the things you have come to depend on, but overlooked.
Lots more, too.
@LadyLibellule@xanga - We take things for granted, as it is. If you take 30 days (of the thousands you'll hopefully live) to evaluate how grateful you should be that you have a voice, that you have food, that you have a shelter, it just makes things more spiritually pleasing.
It's really just the spiritual aspect of religion, I think.
Lots of people are spiritual and not religious though, so it's not like it's all about religion. Check out Ghandi.
Also, if you're going to talk, you stop yourself and think, "God." If you're going to eat during Ramadan, you stop yourself and think, "God." and then you can proceed to worship, pray, etc.
God knows and appreciates good intentions, I don't think he'd get pissed.
@AllConfused@xanga - Yes, he talks A LOT, so this should be difficult for him.
The concept of "giving something up for Lent" is to make us more aware of the sacrifices our Biblical forefathers made, the impact it made in their lives, etc.
When we choose to "give something up for Lent", it is a covenant in our hearts and minds between ourselves and God, a promise we make to God to draw ourselves into a deeper awareness of God in our lives, to somewhow try to understand with more depth the sacrifices He made for us, etc.
To do this in an outward fashion, which draws attention to us and our behavior, just makes us an attention whore. Just like the Pharisees who would give these long drawn out prayers on the street corner and say "Look at me and how pious I am, or how distraught I am," etc. Jesus told us they already had their rewards, but for us to go to our closet and pray privately to God in Heaven, that He already knows our needs and thoughts before we even ask.
Some of us mark our foreheads on Ash Wednesday in an outward sign of a covenant we have made with God. This is Biblically based, in that many " wore sack cloth and ash" to show humility and repentance to God for the error of their ways. The only other Biblical reference to outward changes is where record was made that the men would cut off their hair, to show they had made a covenant with God.
Today the idea of "giving something up for Lent" seems to be more of a game, or something for water cooler talk.
I think I could do it. It's not like anyone cares about anything I have to say anyway.
I thought about it, but I think I'd consider it more fun than a sacrifice(at least at first). I would be like a mime, and I would carry around sticky notes so I could still communicate! woooo!
I'm not that chatty anyway,lol. It's cool that he's doing it. Good luck to him.
Being silent allows us to hear the world around us... to hear the voice of God through His incredible created world. It also allows us to develop our interior voice, our interior life. Prayer becomes a breathe, and breathing becomes prayer. I have never done this for Lent, but I have done silent retreats... and it was tough.
It can also be a witness of those who have no voice, but are exploited... like the unborn. Their innocent lives are ended without their consent, without their voice being heard. But, there are also the homeless, the sick, the elderly, the marginalized in our society.
ANd just FYI... Catholics ARE Christians, but not all Christians are Catholic.
that is really neat, and they must have a lot of dicipline.
WHAT?
How is that even possible? Lol
@garlicface@xanga - Haha, no, it was from a medical condition. There were quite a few jokes going around about the timing of it though, this guy was quite a talker!