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The Iron Man and the communion of Saints.

"On the night that Cal Ripken Jr. broke Lou Gehrig's record for most consecutive games played there were no arrests in Baltimore."  My good friend Ted told me this over beers the other night.

There are a few important things to understand regarding this statement.  Baltimore is a wonderfully historical city.  It is deeply rooted in both import/export business and the corruption that comes with big money.  It is a city close to everything but far away from many peoples most desirable places to live.

Like many blue collar cities in the world there is a great deal of crime and frustration regarding the economy and the general decomposer of "the way it was" or "the way it ought to be." Baltimore has a couple great sports teams (Orioles and Ravens).  You might have heard of them.

On September 6, 1995 most of the country and pretty much all of Baltimore tuned in to watch Cal play his 2,131 consecutive game.  Ripken hit a homerun in the fourth inning and by the middle of the fifth inning the game was official.  The crowd stood and gave Cal a twenty-minute standing ovation.  They cheered loudly and with the ferver of amazed bystanders for twenty straight minutes not really knowing what else to do.  Ripken had given his entire career to one team.  He encountered suffering, disrespect, media pressure, death threats and the remarkable anger that comes to many when we try to change history.  But he endured.

Both outside and inside the stadium in Baltimore, people were spellbound.  Silence ensued within the city's busy streets.  Celebrations occurred and violence seemed to stop.  In a city known for its raw culture and honest working man's efforts, hatred seemed to take absence because of one man and the game he loved. No arrests happened on September 6, 1995.

I write these things on the Shrove Tuesday (Mardis Gras) on the eve of Ash Wednesday and the brink of the Lenten season because I love that pitchers and catchers report to spring training today. And I love peace.  I love that well after Ripken's career in baseball had come to an end he founded a corporation that builds baseball parks in urban Baltimore with the express purpose of getting youth off the streets and teaching them a more enriching way of life.

Peace comes to us when we are silent.  It comes when we remember the things that are really important.  Peace happens when we invite celebration into our homes and when we listen to the stories of heroes and the broken.  Peace is a gift in the midst of thievery and a statement among silent voices.  It is a twenty minute raucous and a quiet street.

When we focus on our true heroes we encounter peace.

Lets focus on Christ this Lent.  Lets dig into the lives of the saints and surrender the violence of our daily schedules for the holiness of their sacrifice.  Lets bring peace.  Peace be with you this Lenten season and all seasons.  May peace enter your home and reign in the midst of all your days.  Play ball.

No drugs in the desert.

Once I gave up coffee for Lent.  This was a conscious choice.  I swear. After forty days of depravity it was decided by my lovely wife that I was never aloud to do it again.  Allow me to explain.

In the forty days leading up to Easter, Catholics enter into a time of fasting and preparation for the resurrection of our Lord.  Easter becomes the carrot on the end of the stick.  This is, of course, where the folklore of bunnies enters into the tradition.  Catholics become so desperate for whatever they fast from during Lent that they are like rabbits ravaging a garden of carrots.  Not really.

Lent is a time of sacrifice.  It is a desert.  In going out to the desert, Christ embraced the challenges and temptations of the world and told them where to stick it. The word Lent itself is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words lencten, meaning "Spring," and lenctentid, which literally means not only "Springtide" but also was the word for March, the month in which the majority of Lent falls.


Please understand, I do not consider myself addicted to any drugs.  I am not a drug abuser.  I choose my drugs wisely and feel that I care for them with the utmost compassion and respect.  I simply like coffee.  On a day to day basis I drink about four to thirty cups.  Okay, more like eight.  You get the picture.

I felt like giving up coffee would be a real symbol of sacrifice and dedication to the season.  I didn't realize that the headaches, lack of "wake-up"ability and genuine agitation would disrupt my family dynamic to the point of near incarceration.  But I made it the full forty days.  Bring it on.

In giving up coffee, I thought my sacrifice was the reason for the season.  I understood Lent to be about me and my ability to dedicate myself by giving up something.  Wrong.

Easter morning I drank an entire pot of coffee and returned to the daily high octane lifestyle that my wife and children had grown to love.  My stomach felt like a rusted steel mill brought back to life for one weekend of production only to be shut down again by a strike on the part of my colon.  Not pretty. What was Easter about anyway?

Lent is not about what you give up for your sake in hopes that you can tell all your Catholic friends about your sacrifice.  It is about the desert.  Lent is a time to shut up.  It is a designated season for creating more space in your life for Christ to be more present.  It is silence when you would normally be loud.  It is stillness where you are usually busy.  It is calm where you bring chaos.  It is Christ.

Walk into the desert this Lent with a sense of confidence and anticipation for you resurrected king. If you "give something up" be sure to fill the time you would have used for that thing with time for Christ.  Meet him in the sands with dedicated time and set aside reflection.  Chocolate or no chocolate, I promise your Easter will be that much more of a celebration.  Then, have a nice cup of coffee and enjoy the morning.