It's Not Dirt - I'm Catholic

When I was a little girl, I vividly remember a Friday during Lent. My mother - a Protestant, it should be noted - made bologna sandwiches for lunch. And I ate it. It was only after the breadcrumbs were scattered across my plate and my juice box was empty that I realized my mother's faux pas. Bologna was a meat. It was a Friday during Lent. And I was a Catholic schoolgirl. In my mind, I was headed straight for Hell...

Later that afternoon I was outside playing on the swing set with my brother. We cavorted around the teeter-totter, performed daredevil feats on the swings, and finally set ourselves the task of a tandem ride down the sliding board. I prepared to go first and coasted towards the ground below when I saw it - a huge black snake with the jaws of an anaconda coiled at the slide's base. I was heading straight toward it before jamming my heels and hands in the sides of metal chute. At that moment, I knew for sure that God was letting me know that bologna on a Friday in Lent was a no-go. I was just lucky it wasn't a hamburger. 

Since that time, and perhaps even before, I have been adamant about Lent. From Ash Wednesday to Good Friday - I'm "in it to win it" with a plan for fasting, church attendance, and (most importantly) meat abstinence. So it's no surprise that I rose early for church on Wednesday morning in Bug Tussle. I hit the "word and communion" service and set out for BTE. After my two years at St. Sign-of-the-Cross, I took having a black streaked forehead for granted as the norm. However, in Bug Tussle, this could be mistaken for the sign of the Beast. 

Amid looks of shock, awe, and terror I took the hallways by storm. Leaving bewildered children and adults in my wake, I endured a barrage of idiotic and misguided comments... including, but not limited to:

* "Did you know there's something on your forehead?"

* "Oh my Gosh! What happened?"

* "It's for your religion?" [pregnant pause] "Which one?"

* "Oh yeah. Lent is where y'all abstain from fish and stuff."

My responses included, but weren't limited to:

* "It's ash."

* "I'm Catholic."

* "It's not dirt."

* "I know. It's there. On purpose."

And these were just from/for the adults! It was then that I had another epiphany - There's no place like a Catholic school in Lent. So bust out the fish sticks and grilled cheese on Fridays. This little Catholic girl has seen the light.

XO,