Immaculate...Whaat? & Ash Wednesday

Immaculate...Whaaat?
On the phone with my mom:
"Mom, you HAVE to try these cinnamon rolls you get in the fridge section at the store.  They're AMAZING" I gushed.
"Really?" My Mom said, "What's the name of the company so I can find them?"
"Ummm...let me think.  Oh yeah, it's Immaculate Conception" And I feel the sudden urge to pause...and rewind.
Mom, "... ..." Silence.  After several, very silent, moments, she says "I really don't like that name.  Are they trying to be offensive?"
Me, "Huh.  That really is a ...weird name.  I didn't...notice 'til now."

Of course I didn't notice the controversial name, because the actual company name is an uncontroversial "Immaculate Baking Company."  My sister, who was visiting at the time of this awkward phone conversation, went to the fridge, found a container and corrected my (much too common) slip of the tongue.  We laughed until our eyes teared.

Ash Wednesday.
I was raised in a variety of Evangelically Free, Assemblies of God and a couple of other Non-Denominational churches.  We moved a few times when I was young.  Mom was raised Catholic (but is not at all Catholic) Dad was raised Methodist (but would not call himself Methodist).  There could be a lot of history to discuss, but I won't get into it.  I grew up knowing a comparably fair lot of the bible, but not many church traditions.  I had never seen Ashes on someone's head until college.  

"What is that?" I asked my friend who had ashes on his head.  

"Why didn't you get ashes?" He asked, knowing I was Christian. 

"What?"  I didn't get it, "What does it mean?"  

"It's Ash Wednesday!" He said.  "The first day of Lent" 

"What is Lent?" 

"It's the 40 days before Easter [minus the Sundays]" said he.  "We get ashes on our head to remind us to repent.  To Dust we return."  

"Oh....really?" I said.

"You're hilarious.  You've gotta be joking." He said

Raised in Christ since birth, heartfelt follower since 15, I had no idea about any of this season of the Christian church.  But, you must remember, there actually is no literal place in scripture that mentions Ash Wednesday.  For a bible-bound girl, my ignorance is understandable.  I could see the sense in celebrating the  40 days before Easter; it made even more sense to me to celebrate it daily, (hourly, minutely) as I had been taught.  I never felt like I had lost out even a bit by not celebrating these seasons, because I could be penitent when my heart acknowledged sin and joyful at the instant redemption any day.  It's like a continual ecstatic and sobering season of celebration.  

Ten Years Later 

Husband now works for an LCMC (formerly ELCA) body of Christ that we love being a part of. He was born in the the WELS and raised in the (WI version of) LCMS. (I am laughing now, all I can exclaim is "Oh, the ACRONYMS!") In spite of my position as wife of someone working for a Lent-celebrating church, I still don't feel I know enough, in detail or experience, to really talk about Ash Wednesday and Lent.  A lot of people who've celebrated Lent for years also don't know the details I feel burdened to know when celebrating a religious rite. This comparison doesn't make me feel knowledgable enough, but it makes me brave enough to try and get some ashes on my forehead, too.

(Whether we do or don't do Ash Wednesday and Lent, salvation is in Christ (keep it simple: John 3:16)  That is what is important!  As far as I understand, the seasonal motions we go through are to help remind us to take time out to remember something important:  Any more meaning put to such acts would implicate that we are starting to trust more in our deeds than in Christ Alone! In this case, Lent, repentance: Repent and rejoice in salvation every moment, as well as when celebrating this season that can help us remember! 

Back to Immaculate Baking Co.

Anyway (blah blah blah), this Lent I thought I'd try to follow religious rites I had never done before.  I will give up those scones and cinnamon rolls by Immaculate Baking Co..  Seems little?  Not when my weekly diet is composed of 25% of those amazing treats: Two (almost) every day=400 calories= 25% of my current 1,600 calories a day consumed. Every time I can't have one, it'll be an extra reminder that God provides all I need, and has often provided things that I don't really need, like a daily ration of cinnamon rolls.

Notes : 
*I've known of and experienced fasting before but never primarily because it was a church season/time of year.
*Today: Going without my daily cinnamon roll was much harder than I thought.  I've only been eating them daily for about 3 weeks and have, apparently, grown quickly accustomed to my new diet.  There wasn't an hour that went by today when I didn't think about 'em.  So far, it is  a useful tool.  A small fast will be a useful tool far beyond the boundaries of Lent, I'm sure.  




*Additional Notes: 
(1)I remember!  Somewhere, in an airport or something, I had seen this nearly identical logo on an individually wrapped cookie. The companies are related, but the label was explained at the time.  Immaculate Consumption a pun, yes, that holds meaning: Eating clean food. 
(2) My family isn't Catholic & thus,  does not ascribe to the dogma of Mary's sinlessness prior to giving birth to Jesus.  My Mom actually didn't like my impromptu title partly because it was (would be) a flippant title with the sole intent of pushing boundaries--boundaries should be pushed with meaning, not simply because of a greedy need for irreverence--even though it wasn't her own beliefs.