Lentor

I grew up Baptist and the idea of Lent was foreign to me. Carrie grew up Methodist and traditionally denies herself something for Lent each year. This year, I was with a crew of folks that had all decided to give something up. This is where I got the title of "Lentor" Patrick summed it up best so I will steal his words:

"As an aside, the term Lentor was coined at a birthday dinner when a friend had a question about not swearing. A different friend quickly intervened, heading off any moral quandary and designating himself as a Lentor, one who can determine the applicable boundaries of a Lenten sacrifice. I’m sure a priest could have served the role, but what lay person wouldn’t want to help set some tangible, real world spiritual chalk lines?"

It was fun having spirited discussion on whether or not it was permissible for someone giving up fried foods to have pan fried chicken (I ruled that it was not OK to have pan fried foods). I like having the power to make decisions over the lives of others. I think I am going to start arbitrarily judging others.

For example, effective immediately, I will begin to judge who has the best comment on Facebook statuses. I will also rule as to who has the worst! The winners/losers will only come from those that are on my friends list, and I may choose not to issues a ruling if there aren't enough comments. I will also be keeping score. There are rules to. Any LOL or other dumb acronyms or happy faces made with colons will automatically be up for worst comment and can never win best comment. I'll be keeping score folks, so choose your words carefully!

Here is a list of my Lentor rulings:

1. For someone who gave up cussing - Could not flip people off, can not say "BS" or "SOB", Shoot/Dang were permitted.
2. For someone who gave up fried foods - Could not eat pan fried foods. Any time that oil was added, it became illegal. Bacon, even though fried in a pan is OK, because oil wasn't added.
3. For someone who gave up deserts - Milkshake with a meal are OK. Milkshakes after the meal are no OK, they become a desert.
4. For someone who gave up Facebook - You can't update your status, even if you break up with your boyfriend and Facebook has you in a relationship
5. I ruled against the "it is OK on Sundays deal" Lent loses its power if you can "cheat" every seventh day. I say you maintain it the whole time.


BW