Dearly Beloved,
Grace and peace to you.
The butter and eggs, they are good.
The glad songs of praise,
with both “Alleluias” and a bit of honey on our lips,
these are good.
There will come a time for fasting—but, wait.
First, let us praise butter,
how it enriches and enlightens our food,
how it causes us joy and gratitude.
Let us give thanks for the riches of life
and indulge in them honestly
before we turn from them
so that we might remember
that the fault is not theirs,
but only in our craving.
I shall eat pancakes today with deep mindfulness
so that I may say goodbye to them properly,
so that in the next forty days
I might learn attentiveness without them
and afterward return to such riches of life
not with selfish craving
but with reverence.
Let delight be the beginning and end
of my devotion.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net