By Cathy Guiles

Perspectives Co-editor

To all of you Valentine's Day revelers who exuded yourselves celebrating love, hearts and candy this week, allow me to remind you of another observance you might have overlooked. This past Wednesday marked the start of Lent, the forty-day season before Easter (not including Sundays) traditionally observed with penitence and solemnity.

Ash Wednesday sets the appropriate mood for the rest of Lent with its emphasis on mortality and repentance. Gregory the Great (c.540-604) was the first to designate the day as the start of Lent and came up with the ceremony we still practice today of daubing people's foreheads with ashes, a common biblical symbol of repentance. But ashes also stand for the impermanence of our lives on this earth: remember that God told Adam after the fall, ``Dust you are and to dust you will return'' (Gen. 3:19).

Early Christians made Lent a time to teach new converts theology and church doctrine to prepare them to be baptized on Easter. They also spent time contemplating their own relationships with God and considering what changes they ought to make in order to live more in line with God's will.

Few people still fast for forty days as was once the custom, but many modern Christians still fast on Ash Wednesday or other days during Lent. Others give up an activity that's pleasurable but not beneficial, such as eating chocolate, smoking cigarettes or watching soap operas. Donating money to the poor is another central component of Lent, as people consider how to practice repentance on the societal level as well as the personal level. All of these practices are designed to remind us of Jesus' sacrifice as well as teach us discipline and self-denial.

My freshman year, I tried giving up soda for Lent and was moderately successful. It was difficult at first, but eventually, with God's help, I became accustomed to walking past the Pepsi dispenser in Knollcrest and stopped going to the vending machine. (I only succumbed twice, once during a Calvin men's basketball playoff game when I was extremely thirsty and the concession stands had sold all their bottled water to the throngs of other parched fans. I think God understood - we did win the NCAA Division III championship that year, after all.)

Of course, we have the freedom to not give something up for Lent, but that doesn't mean we should let the season pass entirely unnoticed. During the Protestant Reformation, when others considered eliminating Lenten observances, Martin Luther said, ``Lent, Palm Sunday, and Holy Week shall be retained, not to force anyone to fast, but to preserve the Passion [story of Jesus' crucifixion] history and the Gospels appointed for that season.''

Growing up, I heard my pastor talk about the importance of taking on something for Lent, rather than giving something up. What he had in mind was actively pursuing faithfulness in a spiritual discipline, such as prayer, Bible study, or corporate worship.

I thought this idea was terrific, so last year, I decided not to give anything up. Instead, I took on the commitment of going to chapel every day. Not only did I learn from the speakers I heard, but as in the previous year, the added discipline of dragging myself out of bed in time to get to chapel strengthened my faith by providing me with a sense of purpose.

Encouraged by my past endeavors, this year I'm going full-throttle: giving up a favorite TV show that certainly meets the ``pleasurable but not beneficial'' criteria, and repeating my experiment in regular chapel attendance.

I think the former goal will be more difficult, since it's such a regular part of my routine and I'll have to think hard to come up with something else to do during the time. But I like a challenge, and I'm up for it (basketball championships notwithstanding).

If this whole Lent thing is new to you (or even if it's not), I encourage you to consider what discipline you can add to your life and faith over the next weeks. Get your friends involved - hold each other accountable to whatever form of self-denial you decide to pursue. One group on Calvin's campus is memorizing one Scripture verse per week during second semester; if you'd like to join them, more information is available at the chapel or from Chaplain Cooper. However you observe Lent, I hope the season will be a meaningful, rewarding one for you.

And don't worry: should you slip up occasionally, or if the concession stand runs out of water again, keep these words from Catholic writer John Bookser Feister in mind: "As we celebrate Lent this year, perhaps the best principle to remember is balance, not only in our Lenten practices (prayer, fasting and almsgiving) but also in our very understanding of the season."