3 Days, 3 Nights
Does this make me
Canadian?
Check out my phat snow
angel:
On Sunday night, I was thiiiiis close to calling the bossman and telling him No Way, Jose, I aint going to no stinkin cottage in the woods. Then I went to church, and the sermon was about Lent, and the meaning thereof, and I changed my mind. The point made was that Lent is not about giving up something bad (you know, like hard drugs and adultery and such, 'cause you should give that stuff up all year round), but something good. The point? To humble your life a bit, quiet your mind, and get ready to follow Christ to the cross.
Okay, so that's why I decided to go into the great white north as my Lenten exercise -- giving up indoor plumbing, my iPod, and central heating for 3 days, and keeping in mind Mother Teresa's advice that, "in the stillness of the heart, God speaks."
My mistake was that I expected that God would reveal himself to me in some really freaky awesome way while I was on a hike in the woods, and that I'd come back with my face all glowing, but that didn't happen. Lesson learned: The Lord will not be conjured by rituals, either fancy or lo-tech, and shouting at him does not a full prayer make.
However, a lot of cool stuff did happen. I skiied my ass cross-country for 12 frickin kilometers, and I survived to tell the tale. I went on two amaaaaazing snowshoe hikes, and saw the silent majesty (yes indeedy, it was silently majestic ) of the Canadian wild. I got a whole lot of quiet time, which means that I got all my prayers out (like, all my bitching about my teaching and not knowing where my life is going) with quiet time left to spare, for listening and learning.
I discovered all new dimensions of the word COLD in the middle of the night there, which made for a good backdrop to my reading, which was the book of Job, which I'd never really read before, and which is quite amazing.
And God did speak, oh boy, did he ever. In the back of my mind, in a still voice, and now I feel both humbler and stronger. It's really hard to explain, but I'm not just making shit up.
Oh, and the best part was taking a bath when I came home last night. I have never been more thankful for indoor plumbing!
On Sunday night, I was thiiiiis close to calling the bossman and telling him No Way, Jose, I aint going to no stinkin cottage in the woods. Then I went to church, and the sermon was about Lent, and the meaning thereof, and I changed my mind. The point made was that Lent is not about giving up something bad (you know, like hard drugs and adultery and such, 'cause you should give that stuff up all year round), but something good. The point? To humble your life a bit, quiet your mind, and get ready to follow Christ to the cross.
Okay, so that's why I decided to go into the great white north as my Lenten exercise -- giving up indoor plumbing, my iPod, and central heating for 3 days, and keeping in mind Mother Teresa's advice that, "in the stillness of the heart, God speaks."
My mistake was that I expected that God would reveal himself to me in some really freaky awesome way while I was on a hike in the woods, and that I'd come back with my face all glowing, but that didn't happen. Lesson learned: The Lord will not be conjured by rituals, either fancy or lo-tech, and shouting at him does not a full prayer make.
However, a lot of cool stuff did happen. I skiied my ass cross-country for 12 frickin kilometers, and I survived to tell the tale. I went on two amaaaaazing snowshoe hikes, and saw the silent majesty (yes indeedy, it was silently majestic ) of the Canadian wild. I got a whole lot of quiet time, which means that I got all my prayers out (like, all my bitching about my teaching and not knowing where my life is going) with quiet time left to spare, for listening and learning.
I discovered all new dimensions of the word COLD in the middle of the night there, which made for a good backdrop to my reading, which was the book of Job, which I'd never really read before, and which is quite amazing.
And God did speak, oh boy, did he ever. In the back of my mind, in a still voice, and now I feel both humbler and stronger. It's really hard to explain, but I'm not just making shit up.
Oh, and the best part was taking a bath when I came home last night. I have never been more thankful for indoor plumbing!
Posted: Fri - February 18, 2005 at 10:23 PM
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das bin ich:
german-born, american raised, canada-loving aspiring scientist / cat lady.
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If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
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Published On: Jul 30, 2005 03:50 PM
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Published On: Jul 30, 2005 03:50 PM