new eyes to see...new blog

I started a new blog at wordpress (LifeAsPrayer.wordpress.com) to cover ideas in my book project and take them from the book into regular life. I didn't think I'd need a new blog for that, but it seems right. I think I might merge the emergingPA blog there at some point.

At emergingPA.blogspot.com I'm giving out freebies all month in Feb, b/c of my birthday. I'm sharing the love. It feels nice.

From current reading (assigned)

You, the great homesickness
we could never shake off,
You, the forest that always surrounds us,
You, the song we sang in every silence,
You dark net threading through us.

(Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, NY: Riverhead, 1996, p. 70)

Candy

Okay, I have to admit, not eating these is hard.

It's like they're looking right at me.

Darkness

I've been pondering the links between darkness and growth.

I have most often (as many do) thought of darkness with negative things or hidden things.

But now I am encountering it in a new way as of late. We dream in darkness. Seeds germinate in darkness. Winter season, the needed time of dormancy in a normal cycle of a year, has long periods of darkness-short days, long nights. These are not bad things.

And I've been thinking of "the dark night of the soul"...silence, for the better.

UPDATE on fast

Success.

chocolate intake in general is down too.

I did enjoy a wonderful donut yesterday (glazed and chocolate covered). I split it up and had it last night and this morning.

Will I go three weeks... Class starts tomorrow.... Vending machine. GULP.

Fasting-starting with M&Ms

I've decided to add Fasting to my "rule of life" as a spiritual practice. I am starting with M&Ms. This sounds like a small thing. But, you don't have a close up of my thighs, and don't know the huge quantity of candy I've had this year. You'd think I made a New Year's resolution to eat 8lbs a month. I love the peanut + chocolate combo. Well, I'm going to practice restraint. I'm going without my favorite candy for three weeks. Starting now. (I'm chewing my last three) After I swallow these, that's it! Sure this doesn't sound so big a deal, but I get these CRAVINGS! usually after supper. I buy in bulk and I still have some in the house, so it could be hard.

The way fasting is helpful is that when you feel the pain of want you pray and focus (or refocus) on God, his provision, and worship him. He is a sustainer.

Have you ever fasted? How did it go?

Give it a try, on a small scale. Maybe just skip one meal (like lunch) in a week. Or withhold a typical treat.

HERE I GO!

Test Subjects faired well during chocolate consumption in spiritual conversations

Four subjects were given chocolate in a controlled spiritual environment (grad class). Three were unaware of the test. One was aware. [I loved the chocolate, and ate it gratefully.]

The experiment showed that the chocolate candy was enjoyed, made the environment more productive, stimulating, and the time seemed to go more quickly.

My preliminary conclusion for this experiment is that chocolate does make life better, and may be considered as part of a spiritual practice in conjunction with other theological pursuits, as it seems to produce positive benefits. More research seems necessary, and I will gladly pursue this.