Back in February this year I embarked on the most peculiar journey. It all actually started last year during Lent, with a seemingly innocuous idea to participate in one of those forgotten Christian practices accompanied with prayer ( prayer as a two-way conversation with God rather than a highly repetative, boring monologue - for those who haven't read the introduction to the Intergallactic Communication aka prayer - http://hiswriter66.blogspot.com/2012/04/important-boring-and-irrelevant.html ) to most people known as Lental fast.
Now, I like to eat and I don't particularly care to to deprive myself of food just to interact with the Almighty, so I sought His advice on the alternative. He suggested Facebook fast. I flatly refused, for such is my natural reaction whenever I hear God's outrageous propositions, especially when they infringe on my well-established habits. But then, I changed my mind because I am still waiting to meet a person who can win an argument with God and I wasn't trying to attempt to be the first one... although I admit, I have tried in the past...
So, I am totally embarrassed to admit it, but last year I completed my first ever fast - Facebook fast, and it was... amazing! I got so hooked (only after being unhooked from Facebook!) on the fast that I wanted to keep going way past Easter. It's like a marathon runner finally reaches the finish line and wants to keep going and going...
Slowly but surely, however, I re-entered my world of addictions and by the time this year's Lent season approached, I knew I was due for another detox. I assumed God wanted me to fast from Facebook again, but with all my years of interacting with the Creator I also learned it's very dangerous to assume anything about Him, especially that He repeats Himself in a cookie-cutter kind of way... So I decided to check with Him before I do the actual plunge. I am glad I did, because I was wrong - again! This time instead of fasting from Facebook, He wanted me to fast from whining! What's up with that?!!! The beginning of this Whining Fast is captured in the following blog entry: http://hiswriter66.blogspot.com/2012/02/facebook-fast.html.
The Whining Fast 101 took a life of its own and morphed into Spiritual Formation 101 half-way through the journey. The last entry of the Whining Fast, is named Auditory detox (http://hiswriter66.blogspot.com/2012/03/whining-fast-101-auditory-detox.html) and it ushers the Spiritual Formation 101, which is just a continuation of Whining Fast but with a more revealing title about what's really going on here (some of us have stopped using imaginaton wheb we graduated from the 2nd grade).
Spiritual Formation 101 chapters of the larger Whining Fast story begin with the post Sir, We Got a Problem http://hiswriter66.blogspot.com/2012/03/spiritiual-formation-101-sir-we-got.html. As life has a way of developing several storylines simultaneously, I have pushed a pause button on the Spiritual Formation story on April 1 when Intergalacti Communication series has been introduced to public. The last entry of Spiritual Formation 101 before the pause is called The Spitting Image in which the Dummy (who is in the story referred to using first person singular) is asking the Gardener from Outer Space why his Dad seems so 'stuck up' on this resting business http://hiswriter66.blogspot.com/2012/03/spiritual-formation-for-dummies-101.html. As I already mentioned, the Intergalactic communication series was introduced on April 1, but right now I sense it's time to push the 'pause' button here and go back to the Whining Fast/Spiritual Formation story and hear more from the Gardener from Outer Space.
I know that some of you will be disappointed since I am leaving you hooked on a cliffhanger, but fear not, sooner or later, we'll return to it... For, ultimately the many stories we live and the many stories we write have both their origin and their completion in the Grand Author and Writer Himself. To Him and Him only belongs all the glory and credit for the marvelous work He accomplishes in and through the dummies of the likes of you and I.
No comments:
Post a Comment