I Give Up (a poetic meditation for the first day of Lent 2009)

Today
I give up
I give up my rights to be comfortable
to privilege
to 4 squares a day
to designer clothes
to a $4 cup of coffee
to climate control
to all those things I think that I
deserve.
Today I give up on those things.
And today
I take the ashes
and I remember that there
was One
who gave his Life
for me.
One who loved me more
than I could ever
know.
One who hung on a
cross
so that I could live.
One who asks of me
only this:
to give up.
To give up lust
and learn to Love
to give up greed
and learn to be Generous
to give up worry
and learn to Rest
to give up self-pity
and learn to Laugh
to give up revenge
and learn to Forgive
to give up fear
and learn to Hope.
Today I choose - again -
to place my life in a pair
of scarred hands.
Today I bow -again -
in submission before
a humble King
and ask - again -
to be Forgiven
and cleansed.
Today I reach out -again -
and pick up the cross
that He has asked me to
carry.
Today I begin a journey.
A journey with the One
who calls me - again -to
follow Him.
And in order to be obedient,
I give up!