Sunrise, San Felasco Hammock
Our household decided to give up night-time electricity for a couple months. It was a spur-of-the- moment decision in response to the question, "is there anything we can do together to celebrate Lent?" We didn't anticipate what it would be like, except that we would not be doing what we often do at night - retreat to our own bedrooms and get online to check email or watch the Daily Show. The idea seemed good to us immediately, and it has been.
For those of you unfamiliar with Lent, it's the eight weeks preceding Easter during which many Christians focus on "prayer and almsgiving." A more modern way of saying the same thing is that it's a time set aside to examine relationships - to each other, to God and to ourselves - and to adopt practices to straighten out the ones that have gone askew. Each of us have our own practices, but we wanted to do something together as a community as well.
As we expected, the practice has shaken up how we spend our evenings. Before daylight savings kicked in last weekend, sunset was around 6:30, so we were eating dinner by candlelight and washing dishes by the faint glow of an oil lamp. While darkness no longer sets in until after the evening chores are done, the difference in our evenings is still striking.
- We tend to seek each other out. After trying to read together in the living room by one shared oil lamp, we ended up talking instead and realize that several of our household are excellent storytellers.
- We enjoy the streetlight. Recently, during this lovely warm spell, we've sat on the front steps and chatted while watching people walk, bike and drive by. More stories - about our day, our families, philosophies, pasts, and plans.
- We've noticed the phases of the moon. Any one of us could tell you where it's at on any given night.
- We go for walks. We live downtown and have well-lit streets. John and I have not taken walks together for years.
- We go to bed earlier. We decided to use wind-up rechargeable flashilights in our bedrooms instead of candles (much safer in our old frame house!). We read in bed (among other things) and then fall asleep, sometimes hours before we normally do. Having time for the "other things" is very nice ;).
- We get up early. Although I don't think we're spending a lot more time in bed, we do seem to be sleeping more "naturally" - falling asleep when we're tired, waking up refreshed.
I like the quiet time with each other, and the glow of the oil lamp, and noticing how subtly it is getting lighter each day. I'm glad we're doing this.
Comments