Today for lunch I had some delicious mini grilled chicken tacos. Which wouldn't be so bad if today wasn't the first Friday of Lent and I wasn't Catholic which means no meat on Friday for the next 6 weeks. Sigh.


People often ask how can I be Catholic. Yes, as I've mentioned before not all Black folks subscribe to the dancing in the aisles, speaking in tongues, fanning ourselves with the face of Martin Luther King, Jr. on cardboard brand of religion. I actually belong to a Black Catholic Church. When I say that people do a double take like I just said an oxymoron or something. I get that the image of Roman Catholic worship is subdued, rule ladden (when do I sit? do I stand now? now I have to kneel? we're standing again??) and dry, something no one associates with Black people when they assemble to praise the Lord.

All the rules have been ingrained in me since the age of 6, when Sr. Aidan taught me the LORD is ALWAYS watching (and that included the wooden man hanging on the wooden "t" above the blackboard). I still know every prayer, every hand gesture, when to sit/stand/kneel/stand again. So yes, I feel somewhat guilty for eating those quite delicious grilled chicken tacos on a day that I am supposed to not eat meat as Sr. Aidan taught me early on in my educational career. And the funny thing is I really wanted a slice of pizza but figured the chicken tacos had less calories. So did I just lose my religion just to lose the 4 pounds I gained over the holidays??? Sigh.


I know many will say that these are just man made rules. But we follow other man made rules like wearing clothes when we're out in public. And no, I'm not advocating public nudity (been there...done that...and thought I was going to die from laughter).

So how can I fix this??? I'm not going the way of one of those Olsen twins and handle the situation over the toilet bowl. Another rule Sr. Aidan taught me: Don't waste food; there are children starving in Ethiopia/China/public schools that would gladly eat the food you're wasting. I guess next week I will not eat meat for 2 days instead of just one. Oh, and I've updated the calendar on my Treo to remind me not to eat meat on Friday. After all, the wooden man on the wooden "t" is watching.