Last night, I made a huge double batch of apple-raisin oatmeal in the crockpot. When I woke up, it smelled wonderful. I was so excited to dip a small bowl and take a bite. It was ...terrible. The apples were too tart, which made the oatmeal taste bitter. If I could have doused the entire thing in brown sugar, it would have been pretty good. But on the fast, I'm stuck with it, bitter, tart and all.
Have you had any recipes that just didn't turn out on the fast? Made something that you weren't thrilled with? As I was bemoaning the fact that I had to spend the rest of the week eating something I really didn't like, I was almost immediately convicted by the privileged and pampered attitude I embodied. How can I possibly complain about eating something healthy and nutritious when people around the world, around our country, even in our own neighborhood, are malnourished, undernourished and starving.
As we fast together, we pay an inordinate amount of time and attention to what we eat - all of which is a gift and blessing of living in the country we do, at the time we do, and in the economic circumstances we do. How can God be calling us to use this time of lack and paucity of specific foods to connect us to the very real hunger our neigbhors near and far experience every day?
During the next two-and-a-half weeks, we may be stuck with some dish we don't really like. If you are, praise God! Embrace your dislike and ask God to transform it into thanksgiving. Use the time to pray for all those who hunger and connect yourself even more deeply to those who suffer.
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