Some time ago, 60 Minutes did a piece on the great English actor Micheal Caine. In the story, they asked Caine, who is no spring chicken (and wasn’t then either) what it was like to be older. He said something to the effect that it was pretty sad for him because most of his friends were gone.
It is Lent. And I can relate. I still have most of my friends. But people that I was close to are starting to leave. The last two and half years have been brutal. My brother Dave was found dead in his bed up in Missouri. My Uncle Howard died at the ripe old age of 90. My cousin Rebecca laid down for a nap at her sister’s house and never got up. And least week my pastor and friend Vic Nixon died. Vic married me and buried my mother. You don’t get much more connected up than that.
And one of my friends has gone the way of full blown psychosis. He might as well be dead to me. He, like the dear souls listed above, is most assuredly on another shore. And I can’t bring him back from there either.
Hey look. I’m pushing 70. I’m just a beer-truck-blowing-a-red-light away from joining the Choir Invisible. Most likely my bad genes will catch up to me and I will go the traditional family route to the Pearly Gates via cardiac disease. So far so good though. Or something crazy could happen to me. Something crazy like I could get shot in the back of the head by a swindling close relative while fooling around at a dog pen. Then again, I don’t plan on moving to South Carolina anytime soon. Like ever.
What does Lent have to do with these ruminations? Not much I guess other than it is never a completely bad thing to be cognizant of the fact that we live in the temporal and that tomorrow is not guaranteed to any of us.
It is traditional, primarily in Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, to “give up” something during these 45 days of Lent. Catholics are forbidden to eat meat on Fridays during the Pentential Season. The Deacon has that one covered as she is vegan. I know folks that are giving up coffee and alcohol. That’s two I’ve heard about this season.
Protestants don’t make such a big deal out of Lenten abstinence . When I was a kid I used to give up sweets although Mother didn’t really let us have much in the way of candy back in the day. Maybe that’s why I don’t have much of a sweet tooth to this day. Speaking of Vic, he liked his wine. He told me he always gave it up for Lent, if only to make sure he wasn’t hooked on it. And of course, he wasn’t.
What about me? How am I gonna observe Lent? This is what I told the boys in the Theology Club at school. I am going to observe Lent by doubling down on my Legal Aid stuff during the period. And I’m going to give more money to homeless charities and civil liberties organizations. That has more significance to me than giving up coffee or cussing for 45 days. By the way, I’ve tried the latter. Epic fail.
Oh well. I am only human am I not?
There’s something else I’m going to do. I’m going to try to reach out to folks I haven’t talked to in awhile. Haven’t quite figured out exactly who they will be yet. And there’s a damn good reason why I haven’t reached out to some folks. But a lot of the time we fall away from others just because we do. Work, family, other obligations get in the way. It happens.
I’m hardly one to hold myself out as a model for right living and I don’t really give unsolicited advice. But there’s bound to be someone in your life that you haven’t talked to in awhile for no reason other than inertia.
Reach out to one of those folks during this Lent. Some of them might be gone sooner than later to a distant shore where you can’t get them back. Hell you might be gone soon. I might be gone. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow.
Ask Michael Caine.
