Detoxing

On our Behavioral Medicine Unit in the hospital, we were aware that some of the hard-core drug users came to us not to be cured, but to cut down on the quantity of drugs needed to get the 'highs' they sought.  Sure, they professed that they wanted to be 'free' of the habits that were destroying them physically, emotionally, spiritually, and legally.  A few months later they came back with the same 'song and dance.'  What could we do?  We hoped that, this time, they really meant it!

The persistent drug users knew that in our hospital unit, we could monitor their withdrawal symptoms, give them the sedatives they needed, and that they would be safe.  After several weeks, these patients would feel better than they had for months.  Their minds were clear, they were awake, and their bodies were free of the drugs.  The left with a plan on how to stay drug-free.

The Christian Season of LENT is similar to this: Lent is a Spiritual Detox.  You've probably heard of Lent, but if you don't know what it means, "Lent" is the 6-1/2 week period before Easter Sunday, the great celebration of Jesus Christ's Rising from the Dead, the Resurrection."  It is a time of Penitence, sorrow for our sins which are offenses against God and each other, the wrong things we have done that we regret.

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, the day we try to attend Mass and receive the mark of ashes on our foreheads to remind us, "You are dust, and to dust, you will return," a most sobering thought.  Ash Wednesday 2014 was this past week, March 5th.

We are encouraged to take this time, once a year, to work on our worst bad habits, use self-discipline to purposely give up things we enjoy, to cleanse ourselves of spiritually destructive practices.  Fifty years ago, Lent was regimented.  Adults were expected to fast the entire season of Lent (except Sundays) and to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year.  This was accomplished, not easily, but since so many were doing the same thing, it was easier.  There were no decisions to be made.  This is just what we did.  The Church had encouraged the Lenten dietary laws for probably at least five centuries previously, maybe longer.  But then, the church was more 'patriarchal,' in that, people were comfortable letting their pastor make the spiritual decisions for them; they tried to follow this faithfully.

FYI: Fast means to have only one full meal per day, two lesser meals, with no eating between meals.  Abstain means to not eat meat or anything such as soups or gravies which contains meat.

Along came The Church Council of Vatican II and the wild, liberal years of the 1960's.  The church discovered that people were more educated, more capable of making their own decisions, that the 'one size fits all' mentality didn't really fit all of us, spiritually.  The dietary laws were relaxed; now we will fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (the last Friday of Lent when we remember Jesus' crucifixion, death on the cross for our sins).  We will abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent.  The church also realized that since fish was available nearly everywhere, it was no sacrifice to abstain from meat anymore for most people.  We were to substitute our own sacrifices instead of abstaining from meat.

The "Spiritual Detox" is Lent is immensely helpful, in many ways, I have found.  The decision to give up particular things we enjoy certainly makes us stronger, and, in the end, helps strengthen us to choose wisely in all areas.  For example, I used to be 'addicted' to playing computer card games every day.  There is nothing wrong with playing these games, unless it takes so much time you could be using for better activities.  So, I gave it up for Lent!  No daily sessions playing games. At first, I didn't think I could go a whole day without the familiar 'racing the clock' to see how high a score I could get.  By the end of Lent, when Easter came, I wasn't all that interested in the games.  I could 'take it or leave it' where the games were concerned.

One year I gave up cake, cookies, and baked goodies.  I wanted to make sure that this was not an effort to lose weight, but a sacrifice.  By the grace of God, I managed to do this for the entire Lenten season.  I'm here to tell you that Cake on Easter Sunday was immensely enjoyable, and far more tasty than before!

It's not merely a matter of giving up something you enjoy.  We need to substitute something more beneficial to us and others.  Since we have freed up more time in our days, we could call a person we know we need to comfort, volunteer for a worthy cause, find some good books for spiritual reading, etc.  This is a very individual matter and choice.

Best of all would be if we could directly confront a fault in ourselves and cultivate the opposite virtue, a habit of excellence.  For example, we may be too judgmental, gossip needlessly, or talk too sharply to certain family members or co-workers.  We could vow that we would find good things to say about the person, talk kindly, never be critical, and go out of our way to be helpful to a person that aggravates.  This would be harder but ultimately more spiritually valuable to us.

Let's don't just drift, let's don't just have good intentions and let them fall away.  Let's make a plan, a written plan, of one or two major things we'd like to change about ourselves, and one or two things we plan to do to change those faults into strengths!  Let's try a genuine Spiritual Detox this Lent!

We know that God will help us in all the good we hope to accomplish, especially when we try to improve ourselves! We just have to ask Him, to pray!