Giving up pop before you go to Europe is a good idea. I’m sure all our euro-dopers will be in to tell me I’m an idiot, but every time I travel I find asking for a *Coke Light *for breakfast results in a waiter looking at me like I’ve got three heads.
I’ve given up all bubbly beverages for lent before, but I think I’m going to stick with refined sugar this year.
Vox Imperatoris, I went to a Quaker church as a young’un and never heard of Lent. My sweetie grew up in a conservative Lutheran synod and his experience was like Baker’s. It was not until I developed an interest in medieval history that I learned about lent and it’s food rules. I’m going to experiment with a medieval lent a few days this year and perhaps try a fully medieval lent (no land-animal products at all) next year.
When does Lent begin?
I was originally going to give up killing hookers but I like Galena’s idea about only buying necessary items a lot better.
I know I posted in the Lent thread a couple of years ago about my difficulty with Lent. I was raised Catholic, so it resonates very strongly with me, and, as an adult, I feel like I ought to do something. But in my youth, giving something up for Lent (according to the nuns who taught at St. Agnes, anyway) was all about deprivation and punishment. So I always feel like I can’t give up things that are bad for me, because giving them up would be good for me, and then it’s not a punishment.
Anyhoo, TDG, I have never thought about it as giving up something that interferes with my connection w/ God. THAT makes sense to me.
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I don’t think the original idea of Lent is to be original or creative in what you give up. It’s not even about sacrifice. The idea is to give up something for a long period so that it burns into your consciousness your carnal nature, and susceptibility to temptation. Not mere conveniences or entertainment. (Same thing with eating fish on Fridays, which my family actually did, believe it or not. I actually liked fish.)
But maybe the idea of the OP is just to muse about things you’d miss. Even so, giving up the Internet? If you told my (very Catholic) grandmother that you were going to give up the Internet for Lent she’d think you were crazy. It’s like giving up the telephone, or the mail service.
That said, I’m going to give up warm showers. Only cold water. At 6:00am.
I’m a bit of a heathen but I really enjoy giving up something for Lent.
I went to school with some Catholic girls that did it and it rubbed off.
I like giving something up for Lent for a few reasons:
- It’s a nice concrete time period.
- A way to test oneself.
- <it’s not so valid right now, with the economy being the way it is> In a world where a person can have ANYTHING it’s good to give something up and learn to live without it
I usually give up beef. I planned to give up all fast food also. (I so rarely eat it <though there is a McD’s IN MY WORKPLACE!> that the no fast food part isn’t too hard).
I’m still a chunky monkey (actually I’m getting heavier again), but I used to be over 300something pounds. Giving up beef/ fast food got me on the road to eating healthier years ago and the Lent thing always gets my head back on straight about healthy living when the New Year’s thing has run aground.
As I understand it, you can give up something that’s bad for you, or give up something that you think you’re too attached to, or give up something that is just a small sacrifice, sort of to see how you manage. It’s about detachment. So giving up the internet freed up enormous amounts of time , and taught me to do without my constant desire to surf restlessly.
Not doing it this year. I’m a SAHM, and it would be too isolating.
I’m Jewish now, but grew up Methodist. I don’t remember anyone ever talking about giving anything up for Lent in the churches I went to as a child.
And charging you a lot of money for it. I found that a Diet Coke was often more expensive than a glass of beer or wine at restaurants in Europe. And it’s just a can, no free refills.
It can be done, especially if you eat fish as well (which, AIUI, is a traditional part of the Lenten diet and not considered meat, at least not by the Catholic Church). I keep kosher to the extent that I won’t eat non-kosher red meat or poultry, but I will eat in a non-kosher restaurant. That means I eat only kosher fish (no shellfish) or vegetarian dishes in restaurants. I’ve managed to find things to eat in restaurants in several countries in Europe. The Czech Republic was probably the biggest challenge, but I managed there, too. Where in Europe are you going?
Oh, I’m going to Paris, which will have restaurants for any kind of diet, I know. But I’m mainly going to be cooking in the “limited cooking facilities” in my room, or eating street food, I imagine, since I’ll be on a super-tight budget, and have little time for cooking and meal-planning. Maybe a meal at my supervisor’s house (who’s in Paris on sabbatical) and she might be offended, too, since I was never vegetarian before. The fish idea is good, though. I can do fish.
As to pop in Europe… I remember that the Coke in Germany was so good! Real sugar, not glucose-fructose! (I never ordered it in restaurants, but I did buy it in the grocery store.)
I am giving up alcohol. I have done that for the past two years. But I am also inspired by this thread, so I am also going to give up non-food related shopping. Hopefully that should save som money too! 
Normally I give up chocolate.
This year, I’ve been told I have to “make Sheboss happy.” I’ll offer “having to ask ‘is this right?’ after every little step” or something, as well…
I’ve been thinking of going to Mass as well, which I don’t normally do when I’m in English-speaking countries as I don’t understand English For Mass (and it falls under the “travelling” exemption). Need to find an acceptable church, though, does anybody know how to tell which “brand” a church in Scotland belongs to? I assume any place called, for example, “Our Lady of the Rosary” would be Catholic but a “St Michael” isn’t very identificative.
Sonnenstrahl, you can receive Communion in a Catholic church being Anglican. It’s one of the good things that came out of the whole “let’s stop calling each other heretics and remember we’re all Christians” movement that started in the 60s (I can’t remember the proper word for it, my brain has been funky all day). ETA: Ecumenic (sp?)
The rule is along the lines of “since both churches consider it a Sacrament, it’s one in both and both are considered valid by the other”. If a church considered communion (small c) as “a gesture” but not “a Sacrament,” then their bread-sharing wouldn’t “count” for those who view it as a Sacrament.
As a born & bred Catholic, I’ve always understood the Lenten season to be about making a sacrifice- either by giving up something you enjoy, or doing an act or acts that would benefit others that you ordinarily don’t do- to help realize the sacrifice that Christ made for us. As a kid those sacrifices took the form of giving up sweets, or volunteering to do housework before we were asked or told to do so by our parents, that sort of thing.
I don’t know how anyone who works for a living would give up the internet. E-mail comes in via the internet. Also, at my job, our main data and document servers are accessed from the satellite offices via, you guessed it, the internet. If you mean giving up facebook or surfing for internet porn, that’s something else entirely.
This year I’d like to capitalize on my kids’ recent interest in charitable works (one volunteered, without prompting and out of the blue, to donate some of her toys to charity; the other expressed an interest in helping poor people buy clothes) by volunteering and performing charitable works during the Lenten season. It’s something that’s been nagging at me that I want to do more of, and this seems like the perfect opportunity.
Last year I gave up meat for all of Lent. That was a big help for my husband and me and has helped us change our diet. Now we rarely eat meat. Instead of giving it up again we’re volunteering four hours a week and cooking meals for the elderly or home bound in our parish.
Nava - How is English for Mass different that English for the Dope, except the curse words (on the Dope, not at Mass)? You seem to have such a perfect commend of English I’m surprised you ever have an issue.
StG
Get some bread and cheese at an open-air market. We had absolutely no problem finding vegetarian or fish meals in Paris.
If you explain that you’ve given up meat for Lent, your supervisor would probably understand that, unless she’s a militant atheist or something.
If you’re going to be back by Easter, and if you live in an area with a substantial Jewish population, you might try seeking out Passover Coke. It’s made with sugar, not corn syrup, as corn syrup is not kosher for Passover. Passover runs from April 8 to the 16 this year. That even gives you a few days after Easter if it’s not acceptable to you to buy the soda before Easter (though supplies may be running low by then).
Oh, I know. I’m just figuring that by I’ll be so weak from an inadequate diet (of baguette and cheese of course because what else am I going to Paris for!) that if someone offers me meat, I’ll take it. 
And I didn’t know about Passover Coke! I’ve heard of Mexican Coke being better, but we don’t have any Mexican markets up here (in Victoria, BC). There are organic cokes and root beers and stuff, but they’re pretty pricey. I’ll try the Passover aisle at the supermarket - if they do have it, there are so few Jewish people here that they might not be gone. (Ah, Victoria, land of the WASPy senior citizens.)
It usually comes in 2-liter bottles with a yellow cap, possibly with Hebrew writing on the cap, as a field guide to identification for anyone who’s interested in looking for it.
Nava- the word you were looking for is “Ecumenical”.
As for Protestant churches doing Lent, some less liturgical/more evangelical churches have taken up special prayer meetings or book studies during Lent. Several years ago, The Purpose Driven Life was utilized quite a bit for such studies, and in fact, was formatted by Rick Warren for a 40-day program.
Oh I think “St. Michael” is more likely to be R.C., (or, indeed, items of clothing from Marks & Spencer 
), although a “St. Andrew” perhaps not so much. Try this list for anything that sounds near you.
http://www.rcag.org.uk/parishes_churchlist.htm
On preview - Oops, that is, I have this notion that you are Glasgow-based. But if you are not, I suppose everywhere must have a little list.