The fullness of a fast.

Early this morning I stood on the front lawn, and I watched the sun rise.

I was intentional about doing this.

Why, you ask?

Why in the world would I choose to stand on our frost crunchy lawn, and watch as the new dawn slowly creeped across the chilly eastern sky?

Why?

Let me see if I can begin to explain....

Yesterday I began my first 24 hour spiritual fast. Now, to some of you this might not seem like such a big deal; and I suppose in the grand scheme of things, it really wasn't. Truth be told, abstaining from food and drink wasn't as difficult for me as I had imagined it might be.

I did suffer from one desperate craving for a steaming cup of java; but other than that, the cravings and hunger pangs were fairly manageable. What wasn't, and isn't manageable however, are the new insights I've gained into my own character.

What were those insights?

Put quite simply, I have so much and I am grateful for so little.

It's not a pleasant moment when one is rocked by the sheer force and depth of one's own ingratitude....

So, just take a moment and try to imagine me in the darkness of early morning.

I'm standing there, shivering, and cradling a cup of sweet, creamy coffee. The coffee I am holding is steaming hot, and sweet, and rich. My belly is empty, but my hands and my heart are full.

For me, this coffee represents the fullness I feel in my own soul even though my belly is empty. It represents the fullness of the plenty I experience day in and day out. A plenty that is both spiritual, material, and relational. It represents my new found gratitude and my desire to share what I have...a gratitude that is warm, and rich, and steaming with invitation.

That is why I intentionally rose earlier than normal. That is why I stood shivering in the icy stillness of the early dawn with a cup of coffee in my hands.

I was determined to begin this day by acknowledging the fullness of my own life.

I was determined, if only for the moment, to live from a place of gratitude.

I was determined to thank God for the entirety of my whole life: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

....and I must say, that when I took my first sip of coffee, neither the coffee, nor my life had ever tasted so good!