Well, Lent is nearly over. Just a few hours left before I head off to bed. My sermon is written and the bulletins are done. I've selected clothing. I don't remember ever being this prepared for Easter morning.
Maybe it's because I'm ready for the fasting to be over and the feasting to begin. I went to the local grocery this afternoon and bought bread and milk and a few treats for tomorrow. They didn't have any cream or half/half, so my coffee won't be quite what I had hoped for, but there will be fresh buttered toast to go with it instead of stale oatmeal. And later in the day there will be lamb with fresh vegetables, and a cake for dessert.
The really surprising part of this exercise is how much I am looking forward to the basics of bread and milk. They were the only fresh things that ran out early and for which there really was no substitute. Sure, I had yoghurt and cheese, but cereal, whether hot or cold, needs milk to be right. And you can't make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich out of crackers or hot dog buns. Standing in the bread aisle this afternoon and trying to sort out choices felt like an overabundance of riches. (For the record, I bought white bread because it's a holiday and not the whole-grain bread that I know is more nutritious.)
So the fast is over, but not the process of using up things that I have stored. I don't know yet what is the right amount to have in the freezer and in the pantry; I have a long way to go before I would be at the point of having "too little." I suspect when I get close to "just enough" I will know it; it will feel right somehow. In the weeks ahead I will return to buying fresh foods, especially the fruits and vegetables that will start to come in now. But I will be more careful about only buying what I know I can use. The fast may be over, but the process of learning to think differently about what I think I need "just in case" is not. There is more to come.
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