The Intent for Lent
I let the steaming hot java pour into my Beatles thermos, poured a little hazelnut creamer in to the black liquid, and capped it off with the thermos’ matching black top.
“You sure do drink a lot of coffee,” my sister said to me while watching me prepare my beverage in the kitchen from the living room.
I looked at her, “I maybe have a cup or two a day. No big deal.”
“I don’t think that’s a good thing,” my sister looked almost disgusted at my actions. “Everyone is so addicted to that stuff to where they have to have it everyday. You know it’s bad for you if you’re having headaches and getting cranky if you don’t have that daily dose of coffee.”
“Well, I’m not addicted to coffee. I can stop at any time.”
“Sure.”
“Watch. When’s Lent?” I looked it up on Google and then glanced at my phone’s calendar. “Okay, Lent starts on the 18th, I’m going prove to you that I can stop drinking coffee at any time and give it up for 40 days.”
My sister half-heartedly disagreed. “Okay, we’ll see.”
“No, it’s going to happen,” I said in an enthusiastic rebuttal. I wrote the sentence, Jasmine will be giving up coffee for Lent beginning February 18th and ending April 4th, on the small magnetic dry erase board attached to the refrigerator and looked back at my sister. “Just watch.”
A few seconds later, the front door quickly opened and then slammed shut. My other roommate rounded the corner into the kitchen and caught a glance at the message that was written on the board.
My roommate looked at me in disbelief. “You’re going to be cranky for a while.”
“No, I’m not,” I said to the roommate who was now taking off her backpack. “I’m just going to buy some more tea.”
“Having a lot of tea isn’t all that great either,” my sister said.
There was no winning with her, but I had already written the words down on to the dry erase board, and so I felt as though I was bound to some sort of holy unbreakable vow.
“So why are you giving up coffee for anyway? Just religious reasons?” my roommate asked.
“No, it’s to prove to my sister that I can stop drinking coffee whenever I want.”
My roommate laughed.
“I mean Jesus already knows that’s what it’s about anyway. I’m not going to lie about it.” I took a sip of my deliciously brewed coffee and doubtfully thought to myself: Oh God. This is going to be a long 40 days.
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