Copyright © 2026 Women of the ELCA. Reprint permission is granted for use in Women of the ELCA units, clusters/conferences and synodical women’s organizations provided each post is reproduced in its entirety. If you enjoy this resource, Donate Now.
I was becoming a TV zombie. I needed some quiet. So I gave up TV for Lent. There are many for whom this is no big deal. For others, though, the idea is crazy. “You’re giving up all TV?” they’ll ask. “Netflix, too? What about movies? YouTube videos?”
“All of it,” I say. “I’ve given up tuning out in front of a screen.”
Because the point of fasting – from TV or other things we give up – is not simply to check “fasting” off of the spiritual to-do list. Fasting is being willing to go without in order to draw closer to God. We don’t have to fast, but if we choose to, it opens our eyes to how the comforts of life can distract us from what’s important.
So now when I come home from work, I’m listening to the birds in the tree outside my window, to the dog snoring on the couch. I’m listening to God, who I can finally hear more clearly now that Jimmy Fallon isn’t talking so loudly. My life is a gift, God seems to be saying, and it’s far more beautiful than whatever might be on On Demand tonight.
This message is excerpted from “40 days without TV” by Sarah Carson from the March 13, 2016, blog of the Women of the ELCA.