A Week with limited water...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I know, I am late with my last post on fasting, my apologies. I was supposed to post it on Christmas, if I stuck with the schedule, but I was busy celebrating that day :)

So, my last week of fasting was living with limited water, I only took military showers - no long 10 minute showers. As someone recently told me, most of our daily water consumption is in the shower (the charity of that week, charity:water, offers further insights into water usage and water as a social justice issue). I will admit. I cheated on this one. In that, it was not much of a challenge because I did this for all of last lent and through the summer in El Paso to conserve water.

In reflection, I did think some about how we use water here in the U.S. We water our lawns with it, some neighborhood association require you keep your lawn green. We take long showers to relax muscles, warm up, practice our singing, etc. oh and we get clean in there some how as well :) Our brothers and sisters in many countries often struggle to even get enough clean water to drink. When I was in Nicaragua this summer, we couldn't drink the well-water (our bodies aren't used to all the little parasites and things in their water). There were just two pumps in one of the little villages and if I remember correctly those were fairly new. Many folks bathed in the river, as well as did the laundry - tried both of those while there, makes you appreciate an indoor closed shower and washing machine. And that is where my advent season concluded. With Christmas morning, waking up in a bed, taking a shower, checking my email, and eating a diverse range of foods (all healthy and nutritious of course).

After this month of fasting, am I a changed person? Perhaps. Am I more appreciative of the many things I take for granted? Yes. Am I also more disgusted with the world? Probably. But there is not much I can do to make the whole world less materialistic and more focused on relationships, experiences, and the other many things that hold true meaning. So I will continue to rant and try to live out Gandhi's quote, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Thank you to all who joined me, cheered me on, read this, laughed at/with me :)

One final, unrelated to advent thought. This Wednesday is the two year anniversary of the death of my fellow peace-loving, social justice-living friend, Lauren, who died of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Please, keep her family and friends in your prayers and in her honor purchase a carbon monoxide detector if you do not already have one. The price is definitely worth the cost of not having one. If you want to learn more about Lauren or Carbon Monoxide poisoning you can check out The LAUREN Project website (http://laurensproject.org/).

Love you all and may your 2011 be filled with blessings and peace.

Paix,

Karen