tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919213371762895514.post7734575501257787163..comments2023-10-21T07:27:52.627-07:00Comments on To Inspire and Mobilize: Deanna: Maybe I Need Some Cheese with my WhineEarth Ministryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902901008513773114noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919213371762895514.post-25534007170158768382008-02-07T18:30:00.000-08:002008-02-07T18:30:00.000-08:00Thanks for your comment, Derek! Deanna certainly ...Thanks for your comment, Derek! Deanna certainly has taken on a major challenge by not driving to work. But I can see that you and I are trying to find God in our lives in similar ways (see my previous post about a "Break from Busyness"). Slowing down and spending more time outside seems simple but it can be so hard to do given the bustle of our daily lives. I look forward to comparing thoughts with you throughout the season...my next post will be on Tuesday the 12th. ~LeeAnneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919213371762895514.post-57345019209601647612008-02-07T18:09:00.000-08:002008-02-07T18:09:00.000-08:00Keep up the great work! I'm taking a less ambitio...Keep up the great work! I'm taking a less ambitious path this Lent. I'm fasting from "fast."<BR/><BR/>The inspiration to slow down for Lent came to me, ironically, while running. I've been thinking about what to give up for Lent and had the grandiose idea of a Carbon Neutral Lent, where I'd give up contributing to global warming. However, I've read enough, and tried enough to know that is a fast I can't keep. I've been working really hard on all fronts, and any more effort on fasting won't leave me any time for the other two big activities of Lent: almsgiving and prayer. So this year, the only thing I'm fasting from is "fast." I'm slowing it way down, and hoping that slowing down will put me in a place to appreciate and care for creation. <BR/><BR/>I woke up this morning thinking about my busy day - work downtown, followed by a brief bus ride home for dinner, then back for a Climate Change class at St. James. I needed to "fit" some exercise in so I got up in the cold dark, put on all of my high tech running gear and headed out my front door up the hill and toward the sea. The sun was rising behind me turning the sound brighter shades of gray until it reflected a brilliant silver. Overhead, an Osprey soared on thermals rising from the sea. On a morning like this, how could I be thinking about "giving up."<BR/><BR/>According to the Arch Bishop presiding over Ash Wednesday mass yesterday, Lent is a season of repentance. Repentance is not the same thing as having regret, just as feeling badly about something you did is not the same thing as saying sorry and actively making amends with the person you wronged. Being repentant is actively changing yourself, and the circumstances that permitted the wrong in the first place. This is the spirit that guides me - this spirit of active change. <BR/><BR/>I've been actively trying to change the circumstances that cause my continual strain on the planet in many ways: turning our yard into a place to grow food for us and wildlife, starting an eco group at church and at work, volunteering to restore habitat. I'll continue in all of those areas, but they take time - and a lot of that time spent indoors, separated from the natural by the unnatural. It is just as important that I'm taking the time to be outside in nature, and available for prayer. It may seem bizarre, but there are a lot of people passionately fighting for the environment while spending very little time in the environment. <BR/><BR/>That won't be me for the next forty days. I am slowing down. Fasting from "fast." This is my Lenten promise. God help me keep it.<BR/><BR/>Check this post out at my blog: http://blog.seattlecitizen.org/2008/02/06/fasting-from-fast.aspxAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com