Catching Idle Butterflies

Questions only.

Fasting. I’ve never tried it, but always wanted to. Everyone I know who has said it’s worth the sacrifices, because it always strengthens their spirit and bring them closer to God.

I just read of someone who’s beginning a 40 day fast, not so much by not eating, but giving up television, internet and the like, spending that time instead in prayer and reading scripture.

I’ve thought of doing the same, but the difficulty will be in keeping up with it. Many times when people fast, it’s within a group. That way they can help each other remain dedicated. I would be giving it a try alone, and with no one to encourage me or hold me accountable, I don’t think I’d last longer than a weekend. That’s why I never attempted to observe Lent. I don’t have to deal with the guilt of having failed.

Looking at it that way, if I held that fear of failure attitude with everything I do, I wouldn’t even be writing this entry. I have plenty of opportunities to fail, trying to publish being my biggest one now. But there are others, such as putting together my lesson plan for the online course beginning in October. Even at work I can fail, such as making a wrong calculation and end up placing a property corner in the middle of someone else’s house.

Why is it I don’t fear failure in my daily life, but fear it when it comes to sacrificing for God? Is it because I fear failing God, that I won’t be able to dedicate myself as I wish, so I don’t dedicate at all?

Aside: As I wrote the title of this entry "Questions only" I realized 'question' is a derivative of 'quest.' Plugging it into the Microsoft Word thesaurus yielded words such as mission, expedition, pursuit, search, hunt, and seek. I’m not sure why, but I think that’s neat. To many of you this is obvious and you’re wondering what the big deal is, but I hope you’ll indulge me.

After all, I’m questing here !