Forty Days and Forty Nights
Beginning tomorrow Christians around the world will observe 40 days of reflections, sacrifice and prayer. This is the holy season of Lent - the time prior to the Feast of Easter. Traditionally, followers would give something up for Lent - candy, alcohol, cigarettes, etc. Over the years, what I have found is that "giving something up" isn't always what one would hope it would be. In addition, when people fail at their attempt to give up, they feel bad about themselves, which truly defeats the purpose of nurturing our spirits. Long ago, I began a tradition of "giving" during Lent. Rather than looking at the cup half empty and giving up candy or something, I decided to be positive, to give to others - random acts of kindness. For example, instead of buying that candy bar, one could put the money into a friend's pocket when he/she wasn't looking. When my girls were young, we took the money spent on pizza and gave flowers anonymously to people in...