Hammer on Anvil '

Have you ever done something that was a waste of effort? If I was asking about a waste of time, someone might suggest video games, which is something I spend more time on than I should. When I think of a waste of effort, I think of putting all your energy into something and nothing come of it. Like completing a project for a competition, only for your partner to bail out before. Maybe weeks of training to run a race, only to be sick that day. For me recently, to work on a college class only to be told that it doesn't apply toward anything. As a Latin phrase puts it: parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus; literally, a mountain give birth to a silly mouse, idea: "all that work and nothing to show for it."

Today was Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. When I was a kid the only thing I knew of Lent was that it was the time before Easter and meant that for lunch on Fridays, it would be fish sandwiches. I didn't like them then and I still don't now. I also knew that it meant a time when many would give up something; things like chocolate, soda, etc. What is the purpose of this fast? Is it merely just a requirement to follow? The prophet Isaiah wrote that the Israelites began to see fasting as such. They asked of God, "Why have we fasted and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed?" (58:3) They missed the focus of fasting, what God wanted them to do with the time.

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains fo injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" (6-7)

All the effort the Israelites put into their fasting and assemblies amounted to nothing because their focus was misplaced. So, if you participate in Lent, where is your focus set? Is it just on what you're giving up, or are you using the time to bring your attention back to God? If you do not typically participate in Lent, is there anything you could give up and would?