Realigning wobblebottoms

Homily Preached at Eltham College Chapel on 26th and 27th of Febrary 2007

So what have you given up for Lent?

Sweets?
Chocolate?
Rollerblading?
Homework?

"Please Sir, I haven't done my homework
because I've given it up for Lent."

"Hmm, that's interesting Eric, because, for Lent,
I've given up not putting people into detention
for failing to do their homework."

Perhaps you're like many people and find Lent rather passes you by.

You don't give up anything for Lent,
yet you still enjoy the overdone and rather greasy pancakes
that slop onto your plate on Shrove Tuesday.

Others of you may like the discipline
of giving something up,
something which, perhaps, you've been too fond of doing,
such as eating too much,
or playing too much
on the Nintendo DS,
and Lent seems the perfect opportunity
to make a step towards becoming healthier in body and/or mind.

Sometimes giving up something for Lent seems more trouble than its worth.

It would not be advisable to insist that a confirmed carnivore give up meat for Lent.

That could result in less physical health, namely a spell in A&E for anyone who suggests it.

Like New Years' Resolutions,
we give up giving up for Lent after two weeks
when the withdrawal symptoms kick in
- the shakes,
the sweats,
depression,
sleeplessness,
and listlessness during the day.

It seems going without a chocolate hob-nob
is too much for some of us to bear.

So why give anything up in the first place?

Why not carry on life as usual
without all this abstinence?

After all,
we have all these wonderful things around us,
why not use them
and enjoy them all year round?

[PAUSE]

We have only to look at
the environment around us
to see the effects of this attitude.

Our constant demands
for what we want
are damaging this planet,
perhaps irreparably,
all for the sake of satisfying our wants
- not our needs,
our wants.




Our planet,
our society and our own selves
are put at risk
all because we refuse
to give up something that we enjoy
just to restore a balance.

It is a fact of life that,
in order to make a positive impact
on the world around us,
we need to make an effort.

Effort requires sacrifice
- you don't get something for nothing.

To win at rugby,
you cannot have a team of wobblebottoms
lumbering across the field
like a heard of soporific hippopotami.

You need trained athletes
who have given up sitting on their backsides
playing Grand Theft Auto
to bring themselves to a peak condition.

The school captain would not have been picked
for the rugby team if simply walking onto the pitch
made him wheeze like a hyena with laryngitis.


To be a successful academic,
you need a mind that has often gone
without a good night's sleep to solve a problem
or gather information.

To be a great moral leader
like Archbishop Tutu,
or Pope Benedict,
you have to give up
thoughts about yourself
and what you need
in order to see the needs
of those around you.

To be successful at anything,
you cannot be a stranger to sacrifice.

"Giving up" and "sacrifice"
both involve restoring a balance,
whether that be environmental,
social or personal.

They are also seen as dirty words in our culture.

By sacrificing aspects of our way of life now,
we can go some way to restoring
the delicate balances of the environment.



But the act of sacrifice has to be
meaningful for the people we are.

Our drama teachers have made sacrifices
of time and patience,
to ensure that the latest production
went with a bang
- literally.

And one wonders how many cast members sacrificed their
eyebrows,
fingers and toes as a result.

Knowing what to give up for Lent
requires knowledge of what we need to balance.

For the Christian,
Lent is about trying to restore
the balance in our relationship with God.

We examine our lives
and strip away the spiritual fat
that has grown as a result of our selfishness.



It does hurt to sacrifice
- it wouldn't be sacrifice if it didn't hurt -
but the benefits of doing so
are incredibly rewarding.

So what’s stopping you from looking
at the way you live your life,
and thinking about the impact
you are personally having
on the world around?

Is there some imbalance
that needs to be re-dressed?

Are you man enough
(or woman enough)
to make a sacrifice this Lent?