{"id":8208,"date":"2022-04-08T13:34:48","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T17:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/?p=8208"},"modified":"2022-04-10T05:51:11","modified_gmt":"2022-04-10T09:51:11","slug":"365253-an-unusual-interior-lent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/365253-an-unusual-interior-lent\/","title":{"rendered":"365+#253: An Unusual\/Interior Lent"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/Days-365+69a-ADAD-Ash-Wed.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-3060\" src=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/Days-365+69a-ADAD-Ash-Wed.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"124\" height=\"127\" \/><\/a>As we approach Palm Sunday and Holy Week, I am aware of how unusual this Lent has been for me. Perhaps for you too. My usual basic Lenten practice is to give up sweets. This is not a significant sacrifice, but rather I consider it a daily background reminder of this season of transformation. When I am tempted to reach for my usual lunch desert candy bar or dinner Klondike ice cream bar, I am reminded of the bigger sacrificial changes I am trying to make in my life \u2013 like living more simply, devoting mega time to social justice causes, really changing my lifestyle; or even this year\u2019s plan to clear my desk area of paper clutter. But this Lent has been different.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of a mammoth give-away effort or major lifestyle changes, I spent about half of Lent half a world away in Singapore for our son\u2019s wedding. This hardly feels like a sacrifice. But\u2026we work with what life (God) gives us. This year Covid travel requirements, a different culture, and lack of a daily routine jerked me out of my typical Lenten sacrificial mode to muse about life in general.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Days-112-Extra-Question-mark.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-3585\" src=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Days-112-Extra-Question-mark.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"93\" height=\"130\" \/><\/a>Maybe it\u2019s the constant disturbing news about the invasion of Ukraine,<\/li>\n<li>Maybe it\u2019s a growing awareness of the precarious future of planet Earth as we know it,<\/li>\n<li>Maybe it\u2019s reflecting on how our children\u2019s lives may be altered by the above,<\/li>\n<li>OR, maybe it\u2019s just getting older.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I don\u2019t know. Regardless, I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about ultimate things, like<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>How big is the universe and can human-like life exist on other planets (like <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/exoplanets.nasa.gov\/news\/1698\/discovery-alert-water-vapor-detected-on-a-super-neptune\/#:~:text=The%20discovery%3A%20Water%20vapor%20in,water%20vapor%20in%20their%20atmospheres\">TOI-674 b<\/a><\/span>)<\/li>\n<li>How\/when did creation of the universe start?<\/li>\n<li>What is the essence of what I call \u201cGod\u201d who I think of as the creator of the universe?<\/li>\n<li>Is there really a God and life after death? I choose to believe these concepts. It brings me comfort to envision a place of being after death, but\u2026 I have no certainty. Death may be nothing more than my body returning to the earth and being the source of new plant life.<\/li>\n<li>Would I live any differently if there is no God, no afterlife? Probably not. But my life feels more meaningful by connecting with a spiritual, God-like being.<\/li>\n<li>Are the above musings what Lent is supposed to be for me this year? OR should I just organize those loose papers?<\/li>\n<li>Am I the only one thinking about these things?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>So&#8230; how would you answer the above questions?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we approach Palm Sunday and Holy Week, I am aware of how unusual this Lent has been for me. Perhaps for you too. My usual basic Lenten practice is to give up sweets. This is not a significant sacrifice, but rather I consider it a daily background reminder of this season of transformation. When [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-days-365"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8208"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8217,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8208\/revisions\/8217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}