It’s the Ash Wednesday edition of Zen Week at the Napkin Dad Daily
First a limerick I made up:
You know what would be
Really bent?
If I gave up cookies,
Just for Lent.
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Emptiness:
It’s what Ash Wednesday and Lent is all about. It’s about sacrifice, taking something out of your life, not just to feel better or lose weight, but to experience the feeling of sacrifice, of emptiness of what you value and need.
It’s one of the reasons people don’t change easily. Change almost always includes taking something away, emptying something from your life. A relationship, food, drink, behaviors that aren’t replaced. Just an emptiness where something used to be. A big gaping void. Not easy to face, not easy to live with.
But every emptiness has a shape that contains it. It might be your stomach, your hands, your living room. You created that shape, that clay pot. It wasn’t always filled with what is now missing.
When you purposely empty something from your life, whatever it is, don’t forget the clay pot is still there and it can be filled with something new. Indeed, the great joy of Lent isn’t just that you learn about sacrifice, it’s that you have a new opportunity to fill that emptiness with something better.
So the Lent question today is, What are you ADDING into your life along with the sacrifice? What new thing can you fill your vessel with?
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And yes, I really am giving up cookies for Lent. I will report back on my success, and more importantly, what I filled my cookie emptiness with. Stay tuned!
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily – Making your brain bigger and your day better.
Quote by Lao Tzu, 6th century BCE, Chinese – Traditionally known as the founder of Taoism