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chocolate would have been easier

i am fasting this lent
[not from chocolate or red wine, let me hasten to add,
or muffins from deganis, coffee, or cut flowers of any description]

i am fasting from knowing.

so in a cafe, yesterday
she, sitting next to me, exclaimed over the headlines:

‘Britney shouldn’t be let near those children, should she?’

and i [deep breath] said,
‘i won’t ever know enough about Britney to know’.

you know - and this is much more embarrassing
than interesting -
this lent, unexpectedly,
i am finding i want to hear Britney’s story
all of it
and i think i might even want to understand.

[could this be compassion?]

it’s much harder than i thought it would be,
this fasting.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 7:40 am and is filed under Lent, random thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

5 Responses to “chocolate would have been easier”

  1. evan Says:
    February 15th, 2008 at 7:57 am

    i dont get it.
    what are you fasting? knowledge?

  2. Cheryl Says:
    February 15th, 2008 at 8:06 am

    hi evan,

    i’m fasting from having opinions that are completely uninformed… from thinking i know enough about someone to make a judgement about their life… from believing headlines [because they've stopped us caring about stories]…

    it would be nice if having an opinion = knowledge, but we (i) don’t really know, i just guess and make up the rest.

    maybe it’s all too obscure to write about publicly

    my default position isn’t compassion anymore, it’s judgement. about anything and anyone - and headlines, current affairs programs, talkback radio, cafe conversations all make me think that’s acceptable. it’s not.
    so i’m fasting from knowing.

  3. Kel Says:
    February 16th, 2008 at 9:06 am

    dearest cheryl
    i get it
    love kel

  4. Mark Riessen Says:
    February 17th, 2008 at 9:55 pm

    Cheryl, I get it too. However I’m fasting from my car. Kind of a whole eco-justice thing. Makes me think about how to get from A to B though. Riding my bike and walking to and from the office mostly. It’s amazing who you meet on public transport

  5. Mick Mc Says:
    February 18th, 2008 at 3:11 pm

    I love it
    I’ll add it to my list of “A.I.T.’s” (auto ignore topics)
    Already on the list are…
    Politicians who give the party line instead of answering the question
    Images of sexual promiscuity secretly disguised as contemporary music
    fundamentalist thinking of any kind
    Collingwood supporters

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