lent - facebook = nicene creed
March 6th, 2009 -- Posted in catholicism, religion | 3 Comments »i gave up facebook for lent (except for sundays, since sundays technically aren’t part of lent, and since i do client work through my FB profile, i needed some leeway!). the idea of giving something up is so that when you would be spending time doing that thing, you’re channeling that time and energy in to a more “holy” pursuit. (crazy catholics and their pursuit of perfection :-). so i decided i would memorize the nicene creed.
for some reason, the memorization of this particular religious manifesto fell through the cracks during nearly 16 years of faith-based education. (fwiw, the pledge to the bible and the pledge to the christian flag are still rattling around in my memory. they’ve been SUPER useful …) although i attend catholic church from time to time, i wasn’t raised catholic and was never confirmed in the church, so i feel conspicuously silent when, at the end of mass, the entire congregation launches into this creed and i do not.
in addition to wanting to rectify this, the nicene creed is, i feel, a foundational piece of religious history and doctrine. considering what it’s declaring, it’s pretty succinct, yet covers a lot of bases. it’s definitely something i want to be able to carry with me in the back of my head. this is as far as i’ve gotten:
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
my sister, who’s getting confirmed in the episcopal church next month, should be learning this creed right about now, too. maybe we should make it a friendly competition and see who can complete memorization first. not sure that’s in the spirit of the creed. or lent. or easter. (or passover, which we also celebrate, but that’s another story for another time … 