Today, true discipleship for me means taking up my cross and following Jesus in a truly agonizing way comparable to the deaths of the martyrs.
I’m giving up coffee one day a week.
A friend of mine made me aware that, though the ban on meat every Friday has been lifted by the bishops in our time and place, there is still an expectation to make a small sacrifice on Fridays in remembrance of the Lord’s passion. (If you don’t though, its not considered sinful. It’s just a recommendation, not an obligation).
I’ve been a daily coffee drinker since about eighth grade. So, fasting from it on Fridays will be a good real sacrifice for me. I’ve noticed in my prayer small ways in which the Lord seems to affirm my minor sacrifices offered to Him, so I would like to continue and formalize the ritual by linking it the Church’s liturgical sense of Friday as a mini-Good Friday.
While doing so, I’m going to do my best to “anoint my head and wash my face” to avoid looking “gloomy like the hypocrites”. (Matthew 6) I even considered not posting this at all, but then again it might be a good example of how we can take up this sacrifice together.
My adventures with the AA community has also partially led to this decision. I’ve been making the conscious choice to not drinking alcohol for some time now, and handing that desire over to God. Although I don’t think I’m an alcoholic, I have found immense emotional health through sobriety and so I believe it is what God wants for me. Indeed, my OCD has really gone back and forth on whether I am or am not an alcoholic like it’s a black and white issue. I realized, it doesn’t really matter whether I am or not. What’s important to me instead is the aligning my will with God’s and no longer touching the bottle.
As such, I’ve been very attracted to the ideals of the straight edge subculture which emerged on the punk scene an advocates for a lifestyle free of alcohol, drugs, and promiscuous sex. This lines up well with me, in both my appreciation of punk music and culture and also with my desire to be free of toxins.
This brings us back to caffeine. As much as I love coffee (and I used to love beer just as much or more) I know it can be something I slowly wean out of my life. It’s not necessary if I do or don’t, but it could be a good discipline to take up.
For now, I’ll start with Fridays.
Peace.
PS: thanks to another friend for pointing out that a plethora of typos existed on my last post. That’s what I get for trying to type and post from my phone! I’ve since updated the post.