Word-Up: Lent is Here!

by Susan Querry Graceson

Every year, around the end of February, I begin thinking about what I should/could give up for

lent. Having grown up Southern Baptist, the observance of lent was not part of my childhood

religious practice, and the notion of giving up something for lent was as foreign to me as

whirling like a dervish. When I found Presbyterianism as a young adult, I embraced the lenten

practice wholeheartedly, and become a champion for the discipline of taking a close look at my

daily life and turning a discerning eye toward habits that get in the way of my relationship with

God and others. In recent years I have given up artificial sweeteners, newspapers, condiments,

online solitaire and other habits that I look forward to a wee bit much, habits that started small,

yet somehow morphed into prominent time and spirit wasters during my waking hours.

This year around the end of February, I started thinking about Word-Up. I love Word-

Up. I really love Word-Up. If you haven’t tried it, don’t. For me, Word-Up is the crack-

cocaine of cell-phone games. I am even loathe to describe it, for fear that even more of you

otherwise faithful folks will come under it’s mighty spell. Let me simply say that it is a word

game that can be played on any cell phone that has Internet capability.

I am a lover of words. I have loved words since I was 12 years old and declared myself

to be a writer. I am the Scrabble champion in my family – no one else even comes close. I revel

in the fact that with Word-Up, just a few clicks of a button can turn “seat” into “teas.” And

“teas” can become “sea” can become “eats” can become “sate,” and with just a few additions of

a few well-placed letters, those four little letters can become “ecstasy!!” See my problem?
 For me to have a word game that I carry with me in my purse at all times is a recipe for

spiritual numbness, zoned out phone calls, missed appointments, and so much more sloppy

living. Word-Up became a great motivation for me to never ever be without my cell-phone. I

might have misplaced it or left it on the kitchen counter countless times in the past, but when

loaded with Word-Up, that little handful of technology became my constant companion, my

beeping and flashing best friend.

I have played Word-Up at basketball games, 12-step meetings, stop lights, and family

dinners. I have played it during classes, phone conversations, concerts, and movies. At least I

can say that I have not ever, ever, ever played it during a worship service (thank you Lord!).

Even so, Word-Up became my go-to activity, the thing I looked forward to almost more than

anything else. A way to tune out, and, I thought, a good way to manage the stress of modern life

as a wife, mother, seminary student, writer, and volunteer. Certainly, I had used other practices

before discovering Word-Up. What were they now? Oh yes, I remember: prayer, music,

conversation, mindfulness, and quiet. I remember those. I remember them well. They worked

quite nicely.

This realization of my dependence on Word-Up, came to a head just last week. My 13-

year-old son and I were sitting in his pediatrician’s office, waiting to be seen by the doctor. We

had been there for just a few moments when my son turned to and said, “Aren’t you going to

play Word-Up?” Out of the mouths of babes indeed. I needed no greater come-uppance than

the harmless remark of my very own child.

In that moment, I realized a bit of what I had given up for Word-Up. I turned to my son,

gulped hard, and said, “No.” For the next few minutes, we passed the time in the small office
telling dumb jokes, playing “I Spy,” and weighing random objects on the small scale they use for

weighing babies. My cell phone, it turns out, even when still loaded with the hefty Word-Up,

weighs a mere six ounces.

I came to realize that, on it’s own, Word-Up is just a harmless word game. It may even

increase my vocabulary or brain power. The problem for me as a person of faith is what is left

out of my life when I fill all of my empty moments with equally empty activity. Without Word-

Up, I will have the time and space to get back to the Godly practices that have served me so well

in the past: prayer, music, conversation, mindfulness, and quiet.

Word up friends: Lent is here.

Susan Querry Graceson is a Master’s Of Divinity student at Wesley Theological Seminary.

She is an inquirer under the care of the National Capital Presbytery, and the session of First

Presbyterian Church, Arlington, where she and her family are active members.