Beer Is Proof That God Love Us and Wants Us To Be Happy

Lent is a time of self-sacrifice for all of us who succumb to Catholic guilt. Some years I give up harder things than others. For instance, one year I gave up drinking. I thought that was pretty hard, until I heard about J. Wilson, an Iowa newspaper editor and beer blogger who went in the opposite direction and made the bold Lenten decision to subsist on only beer and water. Apparently, German monks used to make the same Lenten sacrifice, so that seems like a reasonable example to follow. Next year, I'm going to give up speaking anything but German. Anyway, this beer-only thing seems damn near impossible, although it sounds like Wilson has been going to the doctor regularly and has somehow not been getting sloshed. He's also lost a ton of weight, as you might expect when one doesn't eat for several weeks. Needless to say, I'm very impressed, a little curious, and slightly terrified.