No meat. Why not?

Here is why I chose to give up meat during this Lenten season:

There is so much emphasis on giving up something that I sometimes tend to lose sight on the aspect of gaining deeper intimacy with God. To retract ourselves from sweets, chocolate, facebook, text message (SMS), chocolate chip cookie (I gave this one up a few years back!), and smoking (among all other things) are just half of the story being told in this Lenten season. The other half is saying "yes" to prayer, to alms giving from the money that we use to satisfy our craving, and to time being freed from just NOT using facebook. The list are endless and one cannot stand without the other.

As to why I gave up meat, I have been thinking about doing it for a while.

The story started from the new period of my life when I moved down here and started a new job. It seemed reasonable to pick up cooking for my own survival. I can't justify myself eating out every day (it is not really healthy and unwise economically). And so I cook.

Fast forward a couple of months, I found myself cooking at least once a week. But I noticed one bad habit that I have: I cook meat, and only meat. It was a very seldom move for me cooking just old plain vegetable. Even though I tried breaking this habit, I could only find myself relapsing back into the good old chicken or beef.

As lent approached, I started to ponder the possibility of giving up meat. I know it would be hard. So I went back and forth, trying to weigh in this matter. There are days when I think I can do it and there are days when I think I would go crazy if I give up meat.

But after going back to my "second home" on February and giving a talk in which my last advice was, "Just do it," I said to myself, "Heck with all these questions and doubts that I have in my mind on giving up meat, I should just do it!"

And so the Lent began. I remembered a couple years back when my bishop gave a talk on the idea of Lent. He reminded us that the root word of Lent in English is simply "spring." Hence, Lent is not necessarily just a time for lamentation and sorrow, but also a time of anticipation for the climax of our own salvation history.

And so I began to rejoice. Not only just for the fact that we are eagerly waiting for that coming of Pesakh (which literally mean: passing over) / Easter, but also for the fact that I am joining tons and tons of people all over the world not being able to eat meat on a regular basis. Another reason to rejoice, is that I can share the same experience with one of my relative that decided to not eat meat for monetary reason. Again I rejoice, because this little sacrifice of mine for this 40 days of lent can be nothing but pure adventure to learn new meatless food that I have to venture around.

In short: That by not eating meat for 40 days would mean that I will gain the understanding of countless souls who do not eat meat by choice or by situation, is priceless. It really is a win-win situation, after all.