Perhaps you have to be young and male to understand it, but a daily dose of The Simpsons is like eating. And the hunger of going without it can be just as intense. And so it has been this Lent. This year I decided to forego TV and join the Lenten tradition of giving up something as a pale reminder of how much Christ gave up in order restore a relationship with humankind. And so this March has been marked by the effects of my fast from telly.
Naturally, the first week was the hardest. Every evening at six and seven PM the apartment seemed to slope toward the sleeping television. I felt I could almost hear the Simpsons re-runs emanating from the cable box. But as the days past and I got closer to being weaned, those foul teenagers in youth group bible study would go and quote from Homer et al all evening.
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"Hmmm.. Hercules Rockefeller, Rembrandt Q. Einstein, Handsome B. Wonderful!? I'm going to give you the only name that you spelled correctly!... Max Power." |
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"Heh Heh Heh. Lisa, vampires are make-believe, just like elves and gremlins and eskimos!" |
Needless to say it was quite torturous. But what have I gained from this? Actually, it has given me time to do some reading I had put off, and it has really forced me to see how much time television sucks up, and how much of that can be used for better purposes.
Oh, I must also mention, I say I gave up TV, but I do make an exception for Illini basketball. We are called to be imitators of Christ, not to be him. After all, there is only so far a man can go.
Steve