Easy go ...

I was scheduled to have lunch with a fellow pastor the other day. We were lunching at a restaurant named Eatonsville, across the street from the U Street Busboys and Poets.

I got a phone call that my friend would be 1/2 hour late. I was already at the restaurant. I asked the waitress if they had a newspaper I could read while I waited. She said, no, but there is a bookstore across the street at Busboys and Poets.

I went to buy a newspaper and the store's magazine rack caught my attention. I love magazines. I noticed a magazine I used to subscribe to. Actually I wrote a short piece for them once. I decided to buy the current issue.

Then another magazine caught my eye. A Foundry member used to be a staff writer there. I hadn't read that magazine regularly for a couple of years now. I bought it too.

So I walked out of the book store with a newspaper and two magazines which cost me about $13.

I've enjoyed reading the magazines.

But, boy, it really is easy to spend money without hardly even noticing it. Were I not preparing to do a money fast I would not have given it a second thought.

A number of us at Foundry are preparing for a 21-day money fast between April 3 and 24. One group isn't waiting until April but has already begun their fast. Most of us are using the first half of Lent to be more aware of our spending habits and patterns and then will fast from spending money for anything but the most essential items for the second half of Lent.

It is a spiritual experiment, and we invite you to think about joining us. If you do, leave your thoughts and comments here. Or comment even if you don't.