Yesterday my seminarian daughter threw out a challenge of some sort on Facebook.
Search out #UULent in Social Media and you'll get more details but my interpretation is to think a little more deeply about our world prompted by a specified word a day, take a picture to represent what is means to you and post the picture and your thoughts online. Hence the resurrection of this blog.
The daughter of course added something to that - namely to participate in a fast from dawn to dusk during Lent. As she said when I told her I was going to try this "When you're in, you're all in."
I also thought it was interesting that last year I was "all in" to a little project Jeffery Jubenville was working on called 40 Lenten Meditations based on 40 Bob Dylan Songs. I'm listening to the you tube playlist I put together for this event last year. I was not a fan of Bob before then I am now. At least I'm a fan of his music. I still don't appreciate his singing much.
Today's word for #UULent is "mindfulness" and I can't help but think of a buddhist exercise that an ex minister of FPLex taught us at a board retreat about eating an orange mindfully. He's my interpretation.
Put the orange on the table in front of you. Look at it. Fully appreciate it's shape (is it round?), color (is it a single color?), imperfections (how many are there?) , texture (what might they feel like) . Watch how the light hits it. Where does it cast a shadow? The orange may be orange but does it pick up color from its surroundings like the ostrich egg in the color study I painted recently and which I attached to this post? Can you see color in the shadow in the shaded part of the orange. Where is the stalk? Is there one? Does it have a leaf attached?
Pick the orange up and feel it's weight, it's texture. Does it feel clean or does it have a greasy coating? What does it smell like? Close your eyes and see if you can feel any or all of the imperfections you noticed when you were mindfully looking at it sitting on the table. Is the stalk loose or firmly attached? Does it give when you push it? What happens when you squeeze the orange gently in your hand? Does it change shape? Is it firmer in some places than others?
Make a small break in the skin of the orange with a fingernail. What does it smell like? Could you hear the rind break when it was penetrated? Did any liquids come out? What do they feel like between finger and thumb? Very slowly open the break wider. What do you see inside? Is the rind firmly attached to the pith or is it loose?
Peel the orange slowly fully appeciating how the orange grew and developed. When the peel is all removed consider how it all separated from the fruit inside. Are pieces still clinging to the fruit segments? Pull the segments apart. How many are there? Are they all identical? Are there seeds? How many? Does each segment have a seed or multiple seeds?
Take a single segment and pull it apart. Look at the individual juice sacks inside. Are they all the same size? Does the juice smell different to the rind? Are any of the juice sacs broken. What do they look like when full and when they are emptied of their juice?
Put a segment into you mouth and let crush its juice out. What different tastes are their. Sweet, sour, bitter. Does it feel cool in the mouth? How does the taste interact with the smell? Swallow the juice. How does it feels as it goes down your throat? Swallow the gulf. How does that feel? Eat a piece of the pith and the rind. What is that like? What does a seed taste like?
Finish eating each segment mindfully. What sensations does the eating create? Is it enjoyable. How does this orange compare to other oranges you have eaten?
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