Following along with last week's theme of having a Soothing Sunday focused on God.... I'm working on it. It's been a crazy week and I need some soothing and focus back on my Lenten missions before going back to the "real world" tomorrow.
Presently, I'm goofing off a bit on the computer and watching the movie "Exodus" with my husband. It's one of my favorite movies. I first saw it in 8th grade social studies and the movie features Paul Newman (looking rather dreamy back in the 1960s) and is about the independence of Palestine from the British and becoming the Jewish state of Israel after World War II. I have also read the book by Leon Uris. It's a great story-- well done historical fiction. It's not exactly a movie in line with watching movies like The Passion of the Christ or The Greatest Story Ever Told. It does seem appropriate for Lent after all, Israel is the modern homeland of our Lord. It also is a modern example of the rule of a foreign power-- for me, it makes understanding Israel at the time of the Romans more understandable. I can understand the British Empire and modern Arabs and Israelis so much easier than the 2000+ years ago Roman Empire. Don't get me wrong, I'm not launching into some kind of Arab-Israeli debate or political tirade about occupation... I'm simply saying the events portrayed in Exodus are easier for me to grasp and make the events in The Greatest Story Ever Told more accessible.
None the less... once this movie is over, I've got some laundry and reading to do. I'm behind on my housekeeping because I worked and goofed off too much last week. I'm also behind on my Lenten commitment to get through some books with solid Catholic teaching or Church history. That's probably because I've picked up some big thick books that aren't easy to read. The content is rich with information and I find myself floundering at times about what some terms mean-- the trips to grab my Catholic dictionary are getting more frequent. My list of questions for my Confirmation sponsor and RCIA director is starting to grow.
The other hard thing is the reality of being distracted. You'd think that giving up Facebook and gaining time in my day (I'm more efficient not checking all the time to see if something is happening in the world...I'm accepting that somethings definitely happening and I'm out of the loop and that is okay!). In the evening, I find myself tired and in need of a "break." I've been justifying myself as not having been on Facebook so just a little computer game isn't too bad. Hah... hours later, I'm no less relaxed, it's late and I've not accomplished a thing. For someone who limits their children's game time, I'm doing a crap-tastic job of regulating myself.
So it seems, I have to give those up too. After all the spirit of a Lenten sacrifice is not to take something else and use it as a replacement. For example, if you gave up your evening glass of wine and instead drink a daiquiri each day, you've really not given anything up. So... is this soothing or more a diatribe on realizing why I have some make up work to do on this Soothing Sunday? I'm not sure, but maybe my experience will help you to stop and think about why you're not feeling so soothed lately. What commitments/replacements have you made when giving things up? I know I'm guilty of this myself, so I'm not accusing anyone. I'm simply examining my own conscience and found it lacking.
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