40 days and 40 nights

This Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent, the 40-day holy period leading up to Easter.
The Lenten season is a time for self-sacrifice where Catholics choose to give something up, usually an unhealthy habit.
As a young child I grew to fear these dreaded 40 days of depravity. My mom became the de facto Lent police.
“What are you giving up this year?” she would demand.
“Umm…maybe popcorn or gum” I would answer.
“Not good enough, you don’t even eat popcorn or chew gum” she would bark. “Give up something harder!”
“Oh, okay, candy?” I would suggest.
“That’s acceptable,” she would say.
Then to make my candyless life even more difficult, my mom would give up pop and chips, which meant my dad wouldn’t buy any on the groceries; therefore, I would give up my beloved pop and chips as well.
As the long days to Easter dragged on, I would be tempted to break my Lenten resolution, but I never could bring myself to do it. Although I knew I might be able to trick my mom, I worried about disappointing someone else – someone who couldn’t be fooled.
Now older – and I would like to thing much wiser – I look forward to the challenge of Lent.
But what would I give up in Fiji?
I don’t have a TV, so giving up television is out. I don’t have any friends to drink with, so eliminating alcohol would be too easy. I’ve even outgrown my love of candy.
No, I needed to give up something hard, something I’ve come to depend on.
Then it hit me: Pastry.
At first this may not sound like a difficult sacrifice, but anyone who has been to Fiji knows just how much self-control this requires.
Sweets are everywhere on the island. Ordering chocolate cake after breakfast is the norm here. Every café boasts a dazzling display of cheesecakes, cupcakes and pies. There are even cake vendors on the street corners, peddling pastry like it’s a drug.
“Hey man, do you got the pie?”
“Ya, chocolate and banana, $10”
“Oh man, I only got $5. Come on, help a brother out. I gotta have it.”
Yes, I’m addicted to desert.
And in September I became hopelessly addicted to a Fijian speciality: the coconut bun. I developed a one-bun-a-day habit.
I desperately needed a desert detox.
Lent arrived just in time.