Today is the first day of Lent, the Christian observation of the 40 days before Jesus Christ’s resurrection, marked by Easter.
The Catholic Lenten tradition* involves some sort of fast or abstinence from a pleasurable activity during these 40 days, as a minor attempt to understand the struggle of Jesus’ final days and to build our self-restraint in a world bent on pleasure and external happiness.
*(I can’t speak towards other Christian traditions.)
Looking around, it’s evident that most people shun the idea of self sacrifice as improvement.
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