You know who you are. Are you giving up sweets, or bread, or calories this Lenten season? Perhaps my CoC roots have skewed my notion of Lent; I won't even pretend to know enough about the biblical and historic groundwork for the observance. My wikipedia-esque knowledge derives from conversations with MDiv friends and the bits of early morning sermons in which I was miraculously awake. I've only observed it once, my freshman year in college when I gave up carbonated beverages, though that self-denial was brought on less by my spiritual asceticism and more by the fact everyone I knew was doing it (Spirtuality through peer pressure is the BEST kind!). I've made several half-hearted attempts since then, but I usually caved within the first two weeks "accidentally."
I love tradition. I love ritual. To my mother's chagrin, I often say I should have been born a Catholic. I want to observe the Lenten season with the probity and solemnness it deserves. But I get stuck, as I often do, in the execution. Usually the contenders for fasting have obvious fringe benefits, only drinking water for 40 days tends affect my waistline. This year, I'm forgoing obvious choices and finally attacking something that I hold dear: my words. The vernacular in the restaurant realm is, how do I say, more plebeian than the hallowed halls of the university and despite my best efforts, I will always be a sponge, sopping up whatever environment I'm in. Though I may have no qualms with such language, because really, they're only words people, I can't argue with the cultural connotations and induendos they evoke. So for the next forty days, I, Courtney Hernandez, will do my best to refrain from cursing in print, web, spoken, cerebral forums.
Wish me luck.
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