Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. Amazingly, it is one of the busiest days of the year at Catholic churches, and, unlike Christmas and Easter, is not an obligatory day for attending services.

I’m giving up alcohol for Lent. I do it every year and am actually looking forward to it. Mrs. T. usually gives up sweets, but this year, also will give up alcohol.

Lent is a very curious time for me. Some of my biggest life decisions have come during Lent. For whatever reason, it’s a time of clarity and peace for me.

In a time when there is more and more encouragement to buy stuff, I like Lent’s counter-cultural encouragement to make do with less.