I did a little playing around this week and discovered something cool.  You can take that ridiculously easy brioche from last week and turn it into Hot Cross Buns for Easter.  In case you don’t know much about Hot Cross Buns beyond the painful song played on recorders by school-aged children everywhere, take heart.  I didn’t know much about them either beyond they were synonymous with Easter (actually, it is the end of Lent and or Good Friday), but there is quite a bit of history of Hot Cross Buns in the countries of the former British empire. Enough that a Christian Anglophile can really enjoy the experience of making them and geek out on the history behind them. Not wanting to step on Wikipedia’s toes, feel free to check out more here.

The basic idea behind the buns seems to be that during Lent you don’t have bread enriched with milk, instead, you have plain bread.  So, on the first day that the Lenten fast is lifted, you go all in on eggs and butter and milk (eek, sorry, not in my recipe), as well as dried fruit, to sweeten the deal. I didn’t actually do a true Lenten fast this year, but every year I do try to give up something or embrace a good habit I want to encourage. The idea being a discipline I want to instill in my life to prepare my heart for the coming celebration of Easter.  A small sacrifice to honor the ultimate sacrifice. FULL DISCLAIMER:  I am not Catholic, so for those who feel this is a horrible appropriation, please understand it was meant in the highest spirit of embracing the idea, not twisting it.  Also, blame my mom.  She had a wicked coffee nip habit when I was younger and her giving up coffee nips one year for Lent when I was a child is deeply embedded in my psyche.  I have no idea what that says about me.

For the last 17 years, I have done just what I have described alongside my Lent buddy.  This year we no longer work together, so it has been a bit of a new experience.  Although we did coordinate our plans this year via text, no doubt something was different that I couldn’t put my finger on initially.  Then when I hesitated to text her my annoyance about what I gave up, I realized that it was the every day talking about it that has changed.  You really want someone as petty and understanding as you to hear you complain that you can’t have sugar in your coffee…for a few short weeks…as compared to say, 40 days in the desert.  It keeps you humble, it keeps you laughing.  It keeps you attempting straight coffee. It also keeps you focused on the why.

I guess it is not the most profound statement that the people around us really and truly enrich our lives.  But it is absolutely true.  They enrich our (I really hesitate to use this word) suffering.  It is entirely human of us to want a connection that is not just the high moments, but every day more mundane moments of our lives.  So maybe this week reach out to a dear friend–one who has seen you at your best, and maybe most petty.  Talk and laugh.  It is doing life together, and it is so important.  It is fellowship.  And, it goes nicely with some coffee, with or without sugar, and a Hot Cross Bun.