I had one of those messages from my daughter this week. It was a photo of a little pile of ash that she had made by burning some palm leaves.
She explained that due to the wind, her house had been filled with smoke.
For a moment, I thought ‘why is she burning leaves near the house?’
Then I remembered that it was ‘Ash Wednesday’.
I am currently in Dubai and so had missed the previous day, ‘Shrove Tuesday’, when normally I would have enjoyed a feast of pancakes before Lent begins.
I spoke with ‘she who must be obeyed’ later in the evening and she was able to tell me that she had a very pleasant ‘Carnival’, which is the Portuguese name for what we in Britain call Shrove Tuesday.
There is a lot of partying and revelry.
I was a bit irritated that I’d missed it, as I love pancakes, but there you go.
I am not as deeply religious as my daughter, but I try to give something up for Lent.
This year, I am doing without chocolate and ice cream.
I feel rather virtuous already, and it’s only Thursday; only 38 days to go!
But it made me think about the similarities between Lent and Ramadan.
Clearly, they are both times when people deny themselves, as an act of self-sacrifice and meditate on what their religion is about.
Both are lengthy periods of time, 40 days in the case of Lent and 29 or 30 for Ramadan.
Both end with a great celebration: Holy week in the case of Lent and Eid Al Fitr with Ramadan.
But there is a lot more than this, isn’t there?
Both observances are times when the opportunity exists to remind yourself that others are not so fortunate and to offer alms.
Both are times when reflection and introspection is easier, as a consequence of self-denial.
Both are times when repentance, getting yourself back on track, takes place.
So here we are, with two of the three Abrahamic religions, Islam and Christianity.
The other one, by the way, is Judaism. All trace their origins to the transformative mystical experience and subsequent religious quest of Abraham, a desert wanderer.
Abraham was a bit of a revolutionary in his time.
He broke with the tradition that religion was about celebrating cyclical events, such as harvest, and went with a more monotheistic approach, which valued the idea of being on a religious journey, striving to be better and believe in just the one God, rather than many.
Islam and Christianity share much more than we may think.
It is easy and tempting sometimes, to emphasise the differences which can divide us.
But back to pancakes!
As I say, I missed the opportunity on Tuesday, so I’m going to make a great pile of them at the weekend and have a good feed.
I may have them with maple syrup maybe honey, perhaps just good old lemon and sugar.
Maybe all of the above.
After all, I’m giving up chocolate and ice cream; I never said anything about pancakes.
Yum!
Mike Gaunt is a former assistant headmaster at St Christopher’s School, Bahrain – mikegaunt@gmail.com