He has a tan ? Are you referring to the color of his skin ? Hispanics are normally more dark skinned than Caucasians that is their natural skin tone not a tan. I live in Californis where we have many Hispanics, I have never heard their skin referred to as having a tan.

Haha... Yes, I'm referring to the color of his skin. It's actually very light except where he's exposed to the sun, so in this case, he literally does have a tan, year round. His butt for example is almost as white as mine! But in regards to the tan thing, one of my best girlfriends is black and she says she's my big sister... That we are of the same parents but she has a 'tan.' It's a funny cutesy way of referring to our difference in cutaneous pigmentation.

Yah im with shelflife because i think our generation has not been exposed to as much tradition in church regarding lent . I think its something that has not been taught on as much anymore. It seems that there are a lot of traditional things about church back years ago, that are no longer being looked at or practiced in church. Which is sad if you ask me. Because i know that even though maybe people my age (20s) may not have been exposed or have not necessarily taken an interest in it, its still a tradition..and its still roots and foundation of the church and i think we still need to know about these things.. and yes, to answer your question.. i live in British Columbia Canada..in a tiny little town.

You can't step foot in a Catholic or Episcopal church at this time of year without hearing about Lent (at least in America/Ireland/Italy) so I suspect those that have not heard of it are attending churches that don't observe it, rather than tradition just falling towards the wayside.

Back to the original question, please.

I am thinking about giving up several things, one thing being using the salt shaker at the table, and another thing is giving up the idea that God is not with me all the time. My priest spoke about this last night at our service and I decided to take it on.

I'm not. I grew up in a Presbyterian church and, while we observed Lent, we weren't encouraged to give anything up for the duration of Lent. Tom grew up in a Lutheran church and they did give up something for Lent every year but I don't think he does any more. At least, he doesn't share it with me if he does. We attend a liturgical service now (a mix of Lutherans and Anglicans) and some do and some don't give something up. It's just not something I've ever felt led to do.