Truth be told that across the miles from where you're at, the observance of Holy Week took on a more subdued tone. It almost felt like a regular week. On second thought, it was a normal, regular week.

People went about their business, kids were in school, and stores were open at their normal hours. Radio stations played their regular music and TV stations aired the same programs.

No religious processions on the streets of Chicago or anywhere in the country for that matter. No reenactments, no scourging, no religious music, no Station of the Cross where one has to walk outdoors. The plethora of visual imagery and goose-bumpy sounds that is synonymous to Holy Week there was achingly absent here.

The choice to observe Lent becomes inherently personal, year after year.

We follow tradition to a "T". Some of us avoided meat on Fridays; some of us gave up our guilty pleasures; some of us stopped swearing; some of us became kinder, more in tune with others, more forgiving; some became quieter and more introspective.

However, without the normal trappings, one is left to fend for his or her self. You observe Lent the best way you know how. There's no right or wrong. You draw from your experience growing up and try your best to make it work for the present moment, regardless of what is missing and where you are.

It could be the smell of freshly harvested palm leaves evoking a sense of your past, creating a more meaningful Palm Sunday observance. It stirred my senses in preparation for Holy Week. My quiet reflections allowed my hands to turn the palm leaves into a cross that is now a keepsake, along with the others that I've collected through the years.

The observance of Lent takes on a different nuance through the years and as one gets older. For me, it is personal as much as it has deepened. It could be because around here, away from the palpable display of reverence and religiousness, there is no pressure to act pious, religious and repentant.

But for those who follow tradition, one becomes consciously aware of what a good human being is supposed to do if one professes his or her faith during this time. Your observance is pretty much an outward manifestation of who you truly are as a person.

True, without the religious rituals, the significance of the observance erodes. Without the physical reminders, it is definitely not difficult to get into the mindset that it's business as usual.

Take last Monday for example. It was St. Patrick's Day and traditionally this is when everyone here becomes Irish and celebrates the day by drinking as most, if not all, Irish folks in the country did. Holy Week or not, there was no question that St. Patty's Day was to be celebrated. It was. Although the thought of celebrating a non-religious holiday (especially one that involves alcohol) during Holy Week might be sacrilegious in the minds of many, it wasn't here. Again, it was business as usual.

For me, I see it as an opportunity to parlay tradition into action in times when normalcy seems to pervade. In my mind, I came up with a list of what I would like to do as the week progressed. I know the significance of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday and ultimately, Easter Sunday.

Although part of my reality now is working on Good Fridays, looking at Easter bunnies, Easter eggs and baskets wherever I go. It is my unabashed embracing of tradition that truly allows me to come to terms with what seems to be the commercialism of Easter and the lackluster observance of Lent here.

After all, this is a personal thing. However you want to celebrate Easter, what you do from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, the sacrifices you make, the repenting that you do are all personal decisions. Your reflections are your own. Your thoughts are personal. Your prayers are between you and God.

Yes, we strive to be truly righteous and conscientious of others around this time. We take time to be extra good, extra kind, or extra loving. We resolve to better our lives by treating people right and be better people ourselves. After all, we do all these for Him, who died for our sins.

Easter Sunday is here. It is certainly time to be joyful. Whether it is because of Christ's resurrection or finding colored eggs buried in the ground or hidden somewhere from the eyes of a 3-year-old, the most important thing is we celebrate this joyous occasion. It is the time for renewal - to do good and be good, to make a difference, to spread kindness, love and humility, and to simply care and be OK with little sacrifices and life's inconveniences.

Tomorrow comes and we start all over again. The transformation does not have to end on Easter Sunday. Sure we'll have road bumps here and there but we know what that's like. They say it gets easier when the resolve is undeterred. See, once it becomes a habit, it gets easier. Or even better. You marry tradition with the fun of Easter bunnies, Easter eggs and Easter baskets, you prevail on all counts!

Happy Easter everyone!!!

 

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