40 Days of... what?

This weekend is probably your last chance to decide if you're giving anything up for Lent. The 40 days of abstinence started a few days ago, but the chances are there's still some options open to you - things you didn't do on Wednesday and Thursday that you could conceivably continue to 'not do' until Easter. Maybe you haven't punched an evangelist since Tuesday, and that could be your Lent thing, for instance.

Whatever it is, you'd better get a move on. Before too long you'll find that you've left no vice unindulged, and you'll have to give up something stupid, like eating blue M&Ms or wearing a hat at a rakish angle.

Of course, you're under no obligation to give anything up at all. Lent is a bit of a religious thing, Jesus in the desert and all that, and maybe that seems irrelevant to you, with your Ouija board, your rock and roll music and your fast cars. But I think Lent is worth your consideration regardless of whether you follow the Bible, love the Earth Goddess or - as in my case - worship a giant picture of Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

"But Rob, she's too young, and she was

a witch and she was a lesbian and

BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH"

I'm not clear on all the theological implications of Jesus' decision to spend 40 days in a desert, focusing less on sandwiches and more on sandcastles. There's clearly some self discipline in there, and an ability to identify with those in society who have the least (take note, big rich churches of the West - you have missed the point). But one of the things I do like about it is towards the end where Jesus gets into a bitch fight with Lucifer himself and proves that no matter what the devil offers him, he don't want none of that.

For the uninitiated, what happens is that the devil suggests Jesus do a bunch of cool Messiah-stuff: turning stones into tasty snacks, showing off by jumping off big buildings and landing in the middle of everyone like Iron Man, and finally being King of the entire Universe (or something). Sadly for the devil, Jesus has just spent weeks resisting the temptation to stuff his face with Hobnobs and bananas, so these new temptations are frankly pathetic by comparison. Jesus gives the devil a bunch of cool-ass, Old Testament backchat, that basically translates as 'Are you still talking? Cause I'm not listening, bitch.'





I like this, because it suggests that an unwillingness to give in to temptation is a decent way of fighting some of the evils the world throws up. Certainly in the West, a lot of what causes us pain is stuff we voluntarily agreed to in the first place. We are seduced into lifestyles that destroy our souls and leave us insensible to the suffering of others, unable to protest because we are complicit in the very systems that bind us. Maintaining the ability to say 'No' may be one of the best weapons we have.

With that in mind, C and I are once again going to spend Lent abstaining from supermarkets. No Asda, no Sainbury's, no Morrisons (like I'd go there anyway). When we did this last year it led to a whole buch of benefits - tastier meat, cheaper fruit and veg, fewer shopping trips where we popped in to get some milk and came out laden with DVDs, chocolate, kitchen utensils and toys. Although we've drifted back into the habit, the first attempt has made some small lasting difference to the way we shop, and I'm hoping that doing it again will make that better.

Ethically, of course, this can only be a good thing. Quite apart from the economic policies of the bigger stores, there's something very sad about the erosion of 'locality' that comes about as a result of our migration to the bigger stores. Once community goes, everything goes. And I don't want everything to go. I need it.

So, believers and heathens alike, have a go at Lent. Resist something - show your independence from all the tossers who want you to shut up and go with the flow. Maybe we could make a big banner and go stand outside Asda: "Happy to shop... somewhere else."




(That image of Allison Hanigan isn't mine, obviously. I should be so lucky. Can't find who took it. If it was you, get in touch. No infringement intended. )