Well, we lasted longer than I had thought we could in our TV/DVD fast, but we eventually caved in about 3 weeks into the Lenten journey.  We haven’t been watching a lot (comparatively) since breaking the fast, but we have been watching some of our TV series and an occasional movie on days other than Sunday.

Amazingly, I don’t feel a lot of guilt over this.  I also don’t see it as a spiritual failure.  I think it was a good exercise and it showed me that life without TV/movies is possible (if very difficult in a foreign culture when you barely speak the language…)  It also showed me the value of focusing more attention on Him and less time on entertaining myself.  This self-imposed experiment also revealed to me just how mind-draining and taxing it can be to constantly be confronted with a new language and culture…and how one needs a frequent escape of some sort.  TV is our friend in this challenging feat…at least at this stage of the game.

Just thought I’d share my thoughts on this.  As a side note, I found the readings that I chose to follow a bit too arbitrary.  I was hoping for more coherence and a linear flow towards Christ death and resurrection, but the order and selection of scripture seemed a bit random and a bit too much to read each day.  In the future I think I will try to bite off smaller pieces to chew on each day…