i'd never make it as an ascetic

I have been hungry for the last 3 days. Not want-to-rip-someone's-head-off hungry, but could-eat-more hungry.

I blame it on this retreat I took: themed around "feasting during the fast," it directed my attention toward all the ways food embodies hospitality, and breaking break knits community together.

The retreat center food was fine--and delightful in that way that it's nice to have full plates of food that someone else cooked, but nothing special in the sense of culinary delight. Our retreat sessions, though, were full of little tastes of truly exquisite things: a variety of rich butters, vine-ripened tomatoes, good cheese, fresh bread. These things made it quite worth wanting to always eat a little bit more.

Matt says it's because we're vegetarians for Lent that we're always hungry.

Whatever the reason, I'm trying to like it: I'm always ready to break bread with anyone who might be willing, and always ready for another exquisite morsel of God's good (edible) creation.