I've passed up dessert in a great restaurant, a cup of vanilla ice cream with my son and the frozen dark chocolate bar that calls my name every time I open the freezer.
This small sacrifice brings spiritual mindfulness to my day.
Each sweet reminds me to reflect.
My reflection goes something like this:
When I tell a friend, "Oh I can't have the cookie, I gave up sweets for Lent" my inner monologue continues "and I am still not talking to my neighbor but the sweets thing makes that okay, right?"....
Today I learned that my neighbor will be moving away in a few months.
Finally, a resolution.
Over the course of our interactions I have felt anger, hurt, worry, frustration... mostly failure because I couldn't "fix" the situation.
Tonight I replayed past events over again in my mind and asked myself again, " What could I have done differently?"
As things stand now, we do not speak. The simple kindergarten solution of separating fighting children seemed to work best here.
What could I have done differently?
What could I have done differently?
Aha!
Prayed for him.
I prayed for guidance. I prayed to be a better communicator. I prayed that things would work out (hopefully my way:)
Not once did I pray for him.
Wow. This Lent thing works, huh?
