What to give up? How about Complaining?

In the Protestant church where I grew up, we did not observe Lent, so the concept was a bit foreign to me until recent years. Perhaps the most widely-practiced aspect of this season involves abstaining from certain foods or particular behaviors. The idea is to give up pleasurable activities and instead devote the time and energy usually spent in those activities focusing on our spiritual condition and repenting for spiritual failures. (To my Catholic friends and others more steeped in the traditions of Lent, I realize there is certainly more to it than this over-simplified observation.)

But to concentrate on the "giving something up for Lent" concept, here is a possible choice as to what might be something to consider: complaining. Specifically, complaining about what is happening in politics and government. As a friend of mine noted recently, there is too much time wasted expressing ugly frustration about things over which we have little direct control. (Often, those doing the complaining don't even bother to complain to legislators.) If that time of complaining was used to work toward solving local problems, then things would get fixed, never mind what's going on in Washington.

I'm not suggesting giving up expressing legitimate concerns; thoughtful discourse is not the same as complaining. I'm proposing everyone set aside participating in (and, I'll add, listening to) complaining merely for the sake of complaining, including the hateful, personal attacks and comments about those with whom we disagree. Instead, substitute compassion, kindness and brotherly love, the very things believers are called to do on a daily basis, but which seem to have fallen off the radar when it comes to politics.

Forget the "they started it" approach as an excuse to trade insults. Instead, take to heart what Mahatma Gandhi said, "be the change you want to see in the world." Giving up negative behavior is a way to feel better -- mentally, physically and spiritually -- and it is a welcome relief to those around us as well. Complaining is not as enjoyable as it seems at the time we're doing it, and it's never missed once we discover how much peace is in our lives when it's gone. If everyone gave up complaining for 40 days, we might find out it's something we don't want to start back up again. Making a permanent change for the better is an especially good outcome of the observation of Lent.