Holy sh*t it’s Ash Wednesday!

I don’t know about anyone else, but Ash Wednesday sneaks up on me every year.  I’m minding my own business, buying my morning Sour Patch kids, I see someone with cross smudged on their forehead, and I’m like “oh crap, that’s today isn’t it.”  Then I spend the day scrambling to find something to give up.  And I don’t want to just give up any old thing.  It should be something tough to give up to prove my strength and piousness, and give me a sense of smug satisfaction.  Something meaningful, something that’s lack will be deeply felt.  Or at least something I do almost every day, like eat cheese, drink wine, or cry in the shower.  Lol, JK, it would take a lot more than Lent to stop my daily shower breakdown.

I was in the midst of my annual Ash Wednesday inventory taking when I saw a Facebook post from Southie’s Mo Hanley that switched a light on for me.  Her post was simply “40 random acts of kindness,” and I thought “what a great idea.” Really, I thought it and commented it on the aforementioned post.  Personally I think committing to kindness is a lot more WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) than giving something up.  It’s definitely more what Pope Francis would be into.  Back in 2015, Pope Francis suggested that if we’re going to give something up for Lent we should give up indifference for our fellow man (Heather reads The Pilot), and what better way to move past indifference than looking around each day for a way to make a total stranger’s day a little better?

So if you haven’t figured out what to give up for Lent, or if you just think committing to kindness for 40 days would be a nice change of pace from your usual garbage person ways, join me for 40 Random Acts Of Kindness.  Besides, Jesus doesn’t want us to give up wine, multiplying it was his go-to party trick.