First Quarter Moon of Early March

Tonight is the First Quarter Moon; we are one-quarter of the way through the moon cycle. The moon is waxing - getting larger - until it's full again. Now is the time to remain flexible, use my obstacles as fuel for growth, and show full effort for priorities.

I use this March quarter moon's energy to have discipline with my mind, moods, and cravings.

Agenda for today:

1. Read "Mindfulness-Based Emotional Balance Workbook"

2. Journal Queries

3. Make a full effort plan

4. Make chewy granola bars

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, a 46-day period of preparation for the joyful Easter celebration. The word lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, which means "lengthen"; it refers to the longer days of spring.

Lent is about mortality and transformation; death and rebirth. Marcus Borg says, "It means dying to an old way of being, and being born into a new way of being, a way of being centered once again in God."

Quakers don't traditionally celebrate Lent because we live every day being born again, centered in God. Still - I will always jump at a chance for a period of reflection.

Agenda:

1. Read "Hope in the Dark"

2. Simple food plan

3. Make pretzels

4. Hang up the Lent Lady

5. Plant a sabzeh

Mardi Gras

Today is Mardi Gras, which is French for Fat Tuesday - also called Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Tuesday. We've come to the end of the Western season of Carnival, which starts on Epiphany (January 6) and ends at Lent. Fat Tuesday is always 47 days before Easter Sunday.

Agenda Today:

1. Read "The 5 Resets"

2. Endgame for resilience

3. Plans for Lent

4. Make carnival corn soup

5. Make a screen mask

Hina Matsuri and Clean Monday

Hina Matsuri is a Japanese festival that falls every year on March 3. It began in ancient times as a Shinto effigy ceremony to prepare farmers for the planting of spring crops: They would rub their negative energy off onto a doll, then float it down the river.

Today girl's set up displays of dolls, have a tea party, and - yes - some people still send dolls down the river.

Today is also Clean Monday, the first Monday of Lent, in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. The clean originally referred to the purification of the soul for Lent. Today it's customary to clean the house thoroughly, and, in Greece, people go on picnics, eat shellfish, and fly kites!

Agenda today:

1. Make hina dolls and paper boats

2. The hina-okuri ceremony

3. Prepare to plant

4. Spring cleaning

5. Make hishi mochi and have a tea party

Forgiveness Sunday

Forgiveness Sunday is an Eastern Orthodox holiday that marks the start of Lent. The Western and Eastern churches usually celebrate Lent and Easter on different dates - the Western dates are calculated with the Gregorian calendar, and the Eastern dates use the Julian Calendar - but this year they are very close together. Western Lent begins this Wednesday, March 4, and so I'm celebrating Forgiveness Sunday now, on its proper date, to help become prepared for a time of Lenten reflection.

Agenda Today:
1. Ask forgiveness and offer forgiveness
2. Read "Everyday Simplicity"
3. Make tyropita (cheese pie)
4. Light a candle

Ramadan

Sunset photo by Brayden

Tonight is the start of Ramadan, an Islamic holy day that marks the discovery of the Qur’an by the Prophet Muhammad.

The Islamic calendar is totally lunar, so Ramadan is a few weeks earlier each year, at the sighting of the thin crescent moon, hopefully at sundown tonight.

Ramadan is a month of blessing. By night, Muslims read the Qur'an, and celebrate the compassion of God with special prayers. 

By day, they give to charities, and observe the discipline of fasting: They eat an early morning meal before the sun rises, then eat and drink nothing until after sundown. The Ramadan fast includes abstinence from falsehood and anger, in words and in deeds.

Even though I don't partake in a fast, I observe Ramadan in this same spirit, renewing my relationship with God, and exercising self-discipline and generosity. I hope to build my empathy for Muslims as they observe their month-long fast.

Agenda:
1. Celestial awareness

2. Review Essential Intentions
3. Celebrate Iftar