40 Days For Others II

Lent begins on February 21st this year, Ash Wednesday.  I'm hoping that Bridgett will do my liturgical leg work for me and explain the following to my satisfaction:

1. From Wednesday the 21st until Easter Sunday, April 8th, is actually 46 days.
2. Which days during Lent don't count as Lent?  Someone I know, not a font of church-going knowledge though, always took Sunday off during Lent -- ie. she'd eat chocolate or whatever she had given up...
3. Pass on the real recipe for Lenten Ashes... not the one using the Holy Hibachi (Our old priest would burn last year's palms in the back of church using a little grill -- yes, I said in the back of church... inside.  I always had an asthma attack -- lovely.)

But all kidding and snide remarks aside, Lent has always been a conflicted time for me.  We're supposed to be repenting.  Giving things up.  Going without.  And during the Middle Ages, and well into the last century I'm sure, the last throes of winter were certainly lean times, full of moldy potatoes and mushy onions.  Scraping the bottom of the larder as it were. 

But for me?  This time of year is the time of year when, while it's still bitterly cold, on a clear and windy day, you get a whiff of spring.  Light comes a little earlier and stays a little later.  We begin to rouse from our winter torpor -- or at least, we want to begin to rouse from our winter torpor.  Which is why giving things up -- doing less -- is the opposite of my inclination this time of year.   Oh, yes, I want to eat less, sure.  Heck, sleeveless season is coming (notice I didn't even mention swim suits!).  But it's not about eating less for me.

I do understand the idea of self denial as cleansing.  But if I don't eat that chocolate or that icecream on the shelf, someone else will.  And while I do usually "give up" some favorite food, more as a tradition that feels right 'cause I've done it since I was a kid, that "giving up" won't help the poor Afghanis starving in their hovels or the poor Africans suffering in the diamond mines and oil fields...  And I understand too, I think, that the idea of denial has to do with Christ's denial in the desert, and in our own denial, we emulate him.  Call him to mind as it were.  Ok.  Well.

Here's how I'd like to acknowledge Lent -- I'd like to do a little extra of what I love most.  Only not do it for myself.  Do it for someone else. 

You'll remember that last year, we had nearly 40 knitters knitting for others.  Here is the post where I explain the motivation behind the knitalong.  Last year I donated 42 items to the community outreach arm of the church that sponsors the school we attend.  They didn't give the items away, though.  They included them in an auction to benefit their in-home-elderly feeding program.  Ok.  I guess.  When you give something to someone, you don't get to dictate how it's used I guess.  And they felt they needed money last spring, not knitwear.  (They asked me for knitwear this fall though... short sighted I'd say, but... that's another post.) 

This year, I resolve to give the stuff, if you'd like to send it, to the following charities who've specifically asked for knitwear:

• C 4 -- Churches Committed to Community Concerns has asked for knitwear for it's multi-denominational out-reach programs.  This organization is comprised of diverse congregations of different faiths that serve the St. Louis area.  They are affiliated with MCU.  They are looking for warm hats, socks, scarves, and blankets to distribute to the homeless and the poor. 
• Care Wear --  This is an organization I found through one of my LYS customers.  They use blankets, hats, booties, etc. in children's hospitals around the country.  Click the hospital link and see if there's one in your area.

Or you can knit along and send it along to the charity of your choice.  In fact, if you have any favorite knitting charities and you send me a link, I'll post those organizations too. 

So, what is 40 Days For Others in a nutshell?  Well, it's just this.  Knit for others.  Give away your knitting.  Comfort someone else with it.  I think that's in the spirit of the season, don't you?

Here's a button for this year: 

Or you can use the one from last year:

And if you want to be in the sidebar, send me your name and the charity you'll knit for.  I'll update when I have a full post's worth -- smile -- actually, usually on Sundays. 

Peace.

Comments

[Pat K]

Okay. Get my name up there. And I'm sending the stuff to you, like I said before, and I hope that this year the hats actually get on the heads of the people that need them.

[T]

I'm in again this year! I'll be knitting for local charities (hopefully doing the two birds with one stone thing and using up some stash!)

[Bridgett]

I can't believe it's this time already again. I just started knitting this time last year...wow. Yes, Sundays are always mini-Easters and are not counted in the 40 day count of Lent, your non-font-of-holy-water-knowledge friend is correct.

And I'm going to try. Whatever I come up with I'll give to C4 with you--probably scarves, I like those.

[Carole]

I think it's great that you're doing this again.

[Lana]

Please count me in again too:~D This year I'd like to donate preemie hats/booties to a local hospital that my preemies were born at. Love the new sunny button!

[CindyCindy]

Count me in, but I'd like to knit for the BRO (Board of Religious Organizations) if that's alright.

[Jennifer]

As a Catholic High School religion teacher, I can tell you that Sundays are, in fact, a day off during the week.

:-)

[Kate Lathrop]

Count me in again for this year! That's how I ran into you last year when I found your blog. Glad your feeling better and good luck with the puppy!

[Bobbi]

Count me in for Care Wear. The hospital my husband works at is one of the ones participating.

[Lucia]

I'm definitely in! I'll probably be working mostly on my contribution to Dulaan.

WWJK?

[Mary Beth]

A great read as always! :) I think your 40 Days for others is kick butt awesome! I promise to join in next year but I can't think of the last time I was knitting for ME....and I am itching for something of my own lately!

[Heidi]

Actually Lent ends before Easter. I believe it ends the Wednesday of Holy Week. I've always heard that the "Sundays-off" thing is a myth. I work for a Catholic magazine, and I'm sure we've covered this before. I'll get back to you.

Meanwhile: Count me in. I've already started some charity knitting for a women's shelter here in Chicago. Let me check with them and see if they need items.

[Chris Pokorny]

How wonderful to be doing this again! Please add my name to the list -- I'll be knitting for Cornerstone Community Outreach, which operates homeless shelters and a soup kitchen on the northwest side of Chicago, and Project Dulaan.

[Laura]

Me! I'm in again! Not sure exactly what or how much I'll do, but I'm in there. I have to finish last year's projects. :)

[Kim]

The way our church (priest) explains it, Lent is preparation for a celebration, not meant to be downcast and miserable. Solumn, not sad. I'm not fully initiated into our church, but I like this message. Also, he suggests that rather than denying ourselves of things we like, we try to put into practice changes we've been intending to. That way Lent is a way of kicking off positive change, such as diet changes, more exercise, etc. And it's just long enough to be habit-forming. Last year I tried to be vegetarian except for small amounts of meat for flavoring (such as pancetta) as a way of expanding my repertoire of (mostly) vegetarian meals to use throughout the year. And I did take Sundays off!

[Kathleen]

I'm in. Most of my knitting is for others anyway, but sometimes it is for the people in my life not the people that need things. My donations will stay local. A shawl ministry is being started at my church. I've pledged to make a couple of shawls for that project. I also make rectangles for the HandMade Afghan Project (they just launched a new website: http://www.rectangle6x9.org/) and help at the Put Togethers (Feb 25th is the next one, perfect for this KAL!). Hats -- for Dulaan, local hospitals, Birthright, Pine Ridge -- are always on the needles and hooks!

[Wanda]

I'm in it too. I've been thinking of knitting for others, but never getting around to it. I'm going to knit for Dulaan.

[Joanne]

GREAT IDEA! I will knit some premie hats for the NICU at the Stony Brook University Hospital.

The Triduum (Three days) of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are also technically not part of lent. Thus says my level four catechist manual. If you have never been to the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, give it a try, they are all powerfully moving, and reconnect us with our spiritual roots.

Traditionally, a balanced approach to Lent includes more prayer or spiritual reading, more charity/almsgiving, and acts of self denial such as fasting which help us grow in virtue and be less centered on our own needs and wants.

[GailV]

I somehow found this part of your blog last fall (why was I reading about Lenten knitting in the fall? I've no idea what I was up to back then that landed me here) and had it on my things-to-do for Lent 2007. Count me in! I'll be knitting for Dulaan, but would also like to learn more about C4.

Now I need a remedial course on how to take your button onto my iMac and get it onto my blog. I think someone explained this to me once; I'll see if I can actually accomplish it without some very un-spiritual language and jamming of size 00 dps into the hard drive.

[Jennifer Coomer]

Oh, and I'm going to participate and find a local organization to donate, too. Thanks!

[Daryl]

Although I am a little late, this is perfect for me. I will knit for premies at the NICU at Stony Brook. This is meaningful on several fronts. I used to be a NICU social worker. Later I worked in adoption with birth mothers and visited with some at Stony Brook. On a more sad note, my father died at Stony Brook 3 years ago. While I am sad that he is no longer here, I appreciate the excellent medical care that he got and the compassionate care that my mother and I received.

[Christine]

In my last church, the ashes for Ash Wednesday were the ashes of the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday service. Sundays aren't counted as part of Lent because Sundays are supposed to be celebrations of the resurrection (mini-Easters, like T said in the comments above).