Day 6

So the first Monday of Lent and I worked. I had lots of opportunities to do stuff and I actively did choose to. However, the one that I am going to count was really simple. A guy came in after having a giant tumor removed from his lungs. the only thing he said to me while awake was don't leave. So I didn't. I stayed in the room and listened to him even though he only spoke Hindi. I tried to help and ultimately I spent a lot of time just holding his hand. While I know it was part of my job.....it really wasn't and that is definitely what my good deed was for today.

Day 4 and 5

Day 4- On Saturday the extent of my good deed was pretty small. I saw a woman who was struggling reading a map on campus. I helped her  find the library which she was really happy about. Turns out she normally uses the Boston Public Library for computer access and just learned that Northeastern allows the general public to come in and use our computers. She was thrilled! It was actually a good feeling to bring her over.

Day 5- This happened last night on the way home from the bar. There was a couple standing on the corner in the cold trying to get a cab and failing miserably. So I hailed a cab for them and continued walking home. Sometimes all it takes is knowing how to get a cabbies attention. I was really happy I could help since the girl was in a skirt and had on only a really tiny jacket.

I'm thinking this doing good deeds things might actually work out afterall.

Day 3

I am beginning to realize, and its only day 3, that I either don't do that many good deeds or there are some things that I just forget about. Today the only thing I can really think of is the fact that I talked with a college counselor who was lost on campus and gave them advice about what parts of campus to check out. I guess that is a good deed, right?

I think that I am going to have more trouble with this than I thought because what I want to consider a good deed and what I think is just being a decent human being are getting blurred. Does being a decent person qualify as a good deed? Should I have to do a good deed I wouldn't normally to count? HMMMMM.....

I guess we shall see how the rest of these 40 days goes.

Day 2

Day 2 and I have kept my end of the bargain. Today as my good deed I helped out one of the people who works for my school by moving all of the baskets people use to go through the food line and put them back by the door so they wouldn't have to do it. I know its small, but its something....let's see how the rest of the days go.

Day 1- Ash Wednesday

Where do I begin? I guess with the point of this whole thing. For the first time in probably 15 years I was not able to go to church today and receive my ashes on my forehead like most other Catholics. I am actually really bothered by this. Not only because I didn't get my ashes, but because I haven't been to church in at least 5 weeks and I had no idea what I would be giving up for Lent this year. As I was waiting for the subway this morning I was beginning to think I was becoming a fallen Catholic like so many people in my family.

As the day wore on it began to bother me more and more that I hadn't gone to mass and I really couldn't come up with a single thing that I thought would be good to give up. It wasn't until I got home from my clinical that it hit me. I am a nursing student in the city of Boston and had spent my entire day working. My morning was spent at the Needle Exchange program in Cambridge caring for injection drug users and my afternoon and evening were spent at the Long Island Homeless shelter. Sitting in my dorm room I remembered a homily from an Ash Wednesday that to this day I haven't been able to forget....."Instead of giving something up why don't you do one good deed everyday throughout Lent" the priest had said.

For some reason that idea has always stuck with me, but I have never had the balls to actually follow through and do it. I think I have always been scared that I won't be able to do at least one good deed every day for forty days which I guess is pretty pathetic. The more I thought about the idea the more it seemed to me that if I was really going to try and use lent as a time of reflection and repentance the way I have always done that doing a good deed might be the perfect way to go about it.

I was still unsure after thinking and dwelling on it for some time and decided I should just relax and get some food. I had bigger things to worry about, like the nursing exam I had coming up in two days. Then as I was leaving my dorm room a young woman in a full hijab shouted out to me and asked me where the library on campus was. I led her in the right direction and gave her directions. She then thanked me and said, "Seriously thank you so much it is my first day here at Northeastern and I had no idea where I was going. Thank you so much."

As I walked away I knew that was my sign that I figured out what I would be doing for Lent this year. It was so clear that that was my good deed for the day. I was exhausted and just looking to get food, the girl was so far away I could have kept walking and ignored her call for help, and the way she thanked me were all signs to me that God was showing me that doing one good deed a day wouldn't kill me. So that is what this blog is, a collection of the good deeds I am doing this Lent.
                                        

Honestly, it did strike me as a little odd that a Muslim woman would be the inspiration for a Catholic Lenten journey, but like so many things in my life I have decided not to question it. God works in mysterious ways. And my life works in even weirder ones. So here goes nothing!

My goal is to blog once a day and describe the good deed that I did. This isn't so much because I want credit for the good deeds, but rather a confirmation that I am keeping my Lenten vow. So with that I offer up my helping the new student find the library as my very first good deed of the Lenten season. Let's cross our fingers and hope that this is easier than I am anticipating!