Reflections

Lent - the period prior to Good Friday and Easter. The period of renewal and repentance where Catholics are encouraged to take a good long look at themselves and reflect upon where they stand in their lives on the spiritual spectrum.


Much akin to the Muslims and the period of Ramadan where they partake in a day long fast for a month, Catholics also commit themselves to certain fasting and abstinence, and good works. There are no hard and fast rules but essentially it's not about the physical abstinence that matters as much as the spiritual renewal that you derive from the restraint, be it in indulging in favourite foods or from a certain practice or behaviour, and from the little actions of goodwill.


It doesn't end there. In fact in this period of a month, Catholics take Lent as a pit stop, search deep within their hearts to the broken pieces left lying around and reflect upon their relationships, decisions and pitfalls to make a committed decision to change for the better in the long run. And charity breeds charity and love, helping to refine your conscience.


Like making a quilt, change doesn't happen overnight. There's pieces of your life to be sieved out and selected, there's patchwork to be done, each stitch representing one small step to correcting yourself. And there is no one perfect seamless quilt but a masterpiece of many "imperfect" parts coming together to give the quilt its distinct character.


So in this period of reflection, before the easter eggs are laid in their hiding places, before the feasting begins, perhaps it's time to stop, look and take stock of your life journey.