Business News and Information

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the liturgical fast known as Lent. Hundreds of millions of people the world over will acknowledge the forty-day season of fast which proceeds Easter. Observant Roman Catholics will abstain from meat, fast, and repent. Lent and Easter comprise what are probably the most significant of the Christian holy days.

Besides introversion and a call for self-reflection by fasting, the day is marked outwardly by the faithful wearing the mark of the cross in ashes upon the forehead. The ashes are a reminder that we all came from dust and shall one day shall return.

Bishop James Jones of Liverpool, England, has asked people to give up carbon for Lent. He wants people to think about their carbon footprint by avoiding plastic bags, conserving water and insulating their homes.

Not that this has anything to do with business, but I was raised Baptist. Lent isn’t observed in my denomination. However, I love religious holidays (all of them…really) have always fasted at least once a year since high school. Sometimes I join my Muslim friends and fast during Ramadan, sometimes I observe Lent. Most often I just pick a day to start and begin a 40 day fast. In 2007 I fasted from alcohol, beef, pork, and cheese. Any guesses as to which I missed the most?