Lent

I'm not Catholic.

I don't think this should be a surprise to anyone who reads this blog.

I'm an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

But I do have some very dear Catholic friends, I think it is a beautiful religion, and I am currently in Ireland.

Brief History of Religion in Ireland According to Madison's Understanding: Take With A Grain of Salt

A long time ago, King Henry broke off from the Catholic Church because... don't get me side tracked. Anyway. The Irish were under British Rule at this time. But they didn't want to be Anglicans. They wanted to stay Catholic. Well, that and they wanted to thwart the English.

One of the ways the English decided to deal with this was to introduce Penal Laws. Which basically kept the Catholics, and non-approved Protestants, as lowly as possible. Couldn't hold public office, couldn't be educated, couldn't ride much less own a horse that was worth more than a certain amount. 

But this gave the Irish more to hate the English for. So no one backed off. 

Anyway, because of  all this, generations later when religion is not quite such a passionate thing (in some places) people still celebrate things like Lent.

I have never celebrated Lent before but I will this year.

Why?

Because I feel that improvement is always a good thing. And while I don't have any religious connection to this holiday I do an ancestral relation to this religion and its traditions.

But I am not going to give up something like meat or chocolate when I will just pick it back up in a few weeks.

I have decided to pick something up for Lent for improvement.

I have fallen into a rut over the last few months of not working out.  So, every day for Lent I will work out. How long does it take to make a habit? Anyway, I figure by the end of forty days I will be back in the habit.