In this issue of the Faithernetworker, we again want to feature the ministry of Faithnet, Inc., board member Ray Buchanan, President of Stop Hunger Now. In additional to their ongoing ministry to the hungry, Ray's group is organizing relief efforts for Afghanistan. To find out more about the crisis in Central Asia and how you may help, visit:

http://www.stophungernow.com

Looking Within

Cool Scripture Cite

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 'I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.'" (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

Hot Internet Site

For those who fear they may be lacking one, www.personalityonline.com can help you discover your personality! It features several tests--some based on popular and well-known theories, others based on . . . lesser known models. Of interest to some will be the Enneagram test, which has been helpful to many in discerning their spiritual strengths and challenges. Others will find the Geek Test or the Nerd Test more applicable.

http://www.personalityonline.com/

Emptying the Full Places
Mark Sibley Jones

Lent was not a part of my faith tradition growing up. My Catholic friends didn't say much about it, except for embarrassed explanations of why they weren't having dessert or eating hamburgers. It all smacked of "works righteousness" according to the preacher at the little church my family attended. While others fasted and prayed, we ate fried chicken and prayed.

Over the years, however, I've come to recognize the spiritual principle of making space for God in my life. Spiritual realities often come in paradoxes, and fullness/emptiness is one most salient. Creating space in my schedule, in my values, in my beliefs--inevitably leads to a divine infilling and subsequent new directions in my journey.

Purgation is a term used historically, though often associated with the self-flagellation of ascetic monasticism. Self-denial comes across in our bloated American culture about as incomprehensibly as suicide bombing. Our whole way of life is about filling, and there is virtually no room left for thoughts of inner vastness.

As I embark on my Lenten reflections this year, I hope to cultivate the ground of my soul for new sprouts of the Spirit. Yet, it is not fallow earth that will feel my digging, but overgrown plots that need to be cleared. Hedges I've trained into defensive boundaries. Ground covers to delineate my paths. And, perhaps even some Poison Ivy I've allowed to prosper just for revenge against someone who dares to trespass in my personal garden. Each will cause me to exchange a calloused heart for calloused hands.

God, give us the faith to trust that when we come to the end of ourselves we will find you. Amen.