About fifteen years ago a trend started in the United Kingdom and quickly spread across the pond. It is called Dry January. The basic idea is that during the last month of the year, many of us have probably been eating too well and drinking too well; so, for our own health and wellbeing, for the month of January we will abstain from drinking alcoholic beverages. We might call it a secular version of Lent. It is important to point out that for anyone genuinely concerned about their drinking, giving up alcohol for thirty days does not prove that you do not have an alcohol addiction. It only proves that you can give up alcohol for thirty days!

Although food and drink may be the most obvious ways we have been overindulging lately, it may not be the only way or even the most significant way. The concept of Dry January can easily be applied to other areas of our life. Minister and popular author Joshua Becker has written extensively on the topic of simplifying our life through the lens of faith. He recently came up with a list of ten important things to simplify in our life. Perhaps as you read this list you will recognize one item on that list you have been overindulging in lately and decid to make that a project for January or February or for the rest of your life.: Your Possessions: They draw our bank account, our energy, and our attention. They keep us from the ones we love; Your Time Commitments: Release yourself from the time commitments that are not in line with your deepest values; Your Goals: By reducing the number of goals you are pursuing to one or two, you will improve your focus and your success rate; Your Negative Thoughts: Most negative emotions are completely useless. Resentments, bitterness, hate, and jealousy have never improved the quality of life for a single human being.  Your debt: If debt is holding you captive, find the help you need. Sacrifice today to enjoy freedom tomorrow. Your words: Keep your speech plain and honest. Mean what you say. Avoid gossip. Your Artificial Ingredients: Eat a healthy diet and reduce your consumption of over-the-counter medicines. You will have more energy. Your screen time: Media has a profound impact on your attitudes and outlook. Your connections to the world: A steady flow of distractions from other people may make us feel important; but feeling important and accomplishing something important are two different things. Your Multi-Tasking: Research indicates that multi-tasking increases stress and lowers productivity. Accomplish one task at a time and do it well.

Of course, if you seriously cut back or try to “go dry” on some of these activities, you might find yourself with more time on your hands—just as those who have habitually ended the evening in an alcohol or drug infused haze may discover they have time and energy for something else. What should we do in our spare time? Try to find yourself. Jesus tells us that in order to find our true self we have to lose ourselves in him. If we really focus on letting Christ’s words lead us and make sure all our relationships allow room for Christ, we will discover who we were really meant to be. We will stop bouncing from one activity to another and live life more deliberately. Our real talents and our real abilities and our real personalities are likely to emerge.

One of the threads I find running through the lives of the saints is that they were not people who simply fit in and went with the flow. They stood our from the rest, even if they lived most of their life in a convent or a monastery. This was often annoying to the people around them who wished they would just fit in and go with the flow. But God created each of us to express his love, his truth, his beauty, his goodness in a unique way, and the saints are the ones who come closest to actually doing that. They are the ones who found themselves by losing themselves in Christ.

While we may never join the gallery of saints that line the walls of Assumption Church, working on one of those simplification projects will probably draw us closer to our deeper and truer self. It will help us form more authentic relationships with others and with God. Today’s Feast of the Baptism of the Lord marks a transition moment in Jesus’ own life. He had lived a low-key life up to that point. Now he would publicly proclaim the reign of God in word and deed. He accepted his calling as the Beloved Son of God. This is as good a time as any to become better acquainted with our unique calling.

                                                   Fr. Joe