Before I get started with this opinion, I just wanted you to know that this isn’t me saying that you should believe in my religion or anything like that. This opinion is to inform you on what some students here on campus or people around the Crete community will be doing on March 5.
For many of us, March 5 will be a normal day. However, for Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists and possibly other religions it will be the start of the Lent season, also known as Ash Wednesday.
Lent is a 40-day period of fasting, prayer and almsgiving, and the reason it is 40 days long is because it mirrors the time Jesus spent fasting in the desert before he was crucified. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, which is also the day that many participants get ashes on their foreheads in the shape of the Cross along with not eating meat.
For me, Lent is very important because it makes me get out of my comfort zone when it comes to my everyday life. An example of this is like not being able to have meat on Fridays, or avoiding conversation and music and focusing on worship and scripture.
Now when it comes to the Lent season you are encouraged to give something up to do something that brings you closer to God essentially. However, some people don’t do that. Then there are some, like me, that are giving something up along with doing something to strengthen their relationship with God.
So if you are walking around campus or out in the community and you see people with what looks like black dirt in the shape of a cross, that is because those people are entering the Lent season.
