Lenten Thoughts

I can't pretend like nothing is going on. My heart is so so very heavy this Easter season, but I guess even this open book should have one private chapter.

I remember one year when I was young we had a priest and one lent he made all us First???Graders each put a rock in our shoe. The moral was supposed to be something about how our pain and suffering was nothing compared to what Jesus went through for us...I think...but maybe it was just a penance for something else, I'm not sure, some 27 years later I don't remember what exact lesson we were supposed to be learning. 

What I do remember very clearly after all these years was that I painted my rock blue with a white dove.

What else I remember all these years later is that all (or at least enough to get attention) of the parents complained that it was cruel and unusual. So then we didn't have to do it anymore. 

Mrs. Witte also made us these ugly denim bags to hang at the side of our desks. But at that age-they were the coolest. We had rings for counting, probably some discard from some factory somewhere, but they were colorful. Our whole building only had one computer that ran MS DOS and had a floppy drive. 

I've been reflecting a lot this past week. Thinking about rereading the Impossible Lightness of Being. Thinking about not re-reading it after all. 

The other week I actually made plans to go to stations. I even googled what time it was. Then I realized they wouldn't be using those pink books from the 70s. Step up close to Jesus.