The Animosity Shop Part 1

Yesterday I was sharing something I had learned about desperation.  That is a rather bleak word standing on its own.  It has many faces and uses, for I have even used the phrase, "Desperate situations call for desperate measures."

How do fasting and desperation connect?  Have you ever eaten rice cakes?  Have you noticed that you can eat the entire package and not be filled up?  Sad but true, the food value, nutrition, and life have all been taken away in the processing.  That's why they never satisfy.

We live in a world so processed and tampered with by the adversary.  There is rarely a pure place we can go, a pure conversation we can have, and hardly any of us have pure beliefs.  It's not that we want to have misgivings, false biases, and unbeliefs, but they are a part and parcel of this life experience. So how can we have that which will satisfy?  How can fasting provide that which will satisfy when we seem to be giving up what makes our stomach feel full and we can have that lazy, sleepy feeling.

The first blessing of the fast is to loose the bands of wickedness.  What are the bands of wickedness?  It is easy to dive head on into a long list of wicked things.  It is much like cleaning out a closet filled to the brim of old coats, sports equipment, and other paraphernalia. The general clean up is easy in my opinion.  They are the more obvious things that you can tell are broken or outdated or torn and worn out and of no use any longer.

We are filled with things that are broken, torn and worn out, and of no use.  All of those things keep us from believing in Christ.  Some of those things are identifiable by the way they make us feel when we reflect upon them, like being loved even though you might not have measured up to your expectations, or thinking you are unworthy because of a past experience in your life.  The list is literally endless.

Certainly having any kind of addiction is wickedness, but it holds us in bondage.  It is Christ alone who is attributed to the redeemer of our souls.  The scriptures constantly remind us that is Christ who frees us from the bonds of wickedness.

I was speaking to a couple who work with an addiction recovery program.  They indicated that those people who were attending the program who fasted had the greatest and quickest healing in their lives.  It is part of the 12 step process.  The third step is to invite God into your life.  More specifically it is inviting Christ into our lives.

The need to be freed from the influence of the world and all its pull and deception requires us to take honest stock of our lives, our belief systems, and the truth about how we feel about letting Christ take our burdens from us.  I love that the Savior asks us in all humility to cast our burdens upon him, and he will sustain us.  I had so many false beliefs about how much of that load I felt I could give him.  I felt I was not being resourceful enough, or bright enough, or working hard enough that I would need to give him more than I thought was His share.  How silly of me.  How ridiculous of me.  All of that burden He has already felt and carried.  He will take this other task with willingness and joy.

Fasting means that we go to Christ with our willingness to let him loosen the bands of wickedness, just like a small child would take his botched job of tying his shoes all into knots to a loving parent who knew how to gently unravel the problem.

Every time I find myself fasting I ask myself the same question, "Am I giving this all over to Thee? Am I allowing Him to teach me where I am in bondage?  Addicted?  Enslaved?"
After every experience I realize that more of the junk I allow him to take away out of the closet makes me feel lighter, happier, and far less burdened.

I wrote a story years ago about a man who needed someone to take away his burden.  It is called Garrison Glower andThe Animosity Shop. I will include this in the next few blogs.  I hope you will enjoy reading it.

Garrison Glower and the Animosity Shop

By Yvonne Bent 

(June 1, 2000)

    

      In a gray and not so nice part of town there lived a man named Garrison Glower.  He owned a small bookstore down a dark alley, reached easily from the main street.  No self-respecting cat or dog would be found rummaging through the refuse of this alley, for it was gloomy and foreboding. Almost all the businesses had bars in the windows and doors.  There wasn’t a street light still in operation.  Most of the shops had some sign or banner indicating the content of the goods reflected inside, though they were difficult to read because of their grime and dingy condition.  It was a very sorry part of town.

      Business at the Animosity Shop was almost non-existent lately. Garrison had become concerned when he realized that no one had come inside his place of business for quite a long while.  He blamed the poor business situation on the condition of the door. 

      Garrison didn’t want to spend any money to get his front door fixed, but it seemed impossible to open it these days without a great deal of effort.  He had heard of a reliable contractor from a few of his acquaintances, for Garrison had no real friends.  One time a fellow who had entered his shop even left a card that belonged to the rather notable fix-it man.  But Garrison just tossed it on a shelf, never thinking he would need to use anyone’s help.  Why, the very idea was absurd!  And because of his earlier disregard, his greater problem was that he couldn’t quite remember where he put the card.

      Garrison began to sort through the debris on his shelves.  He had lots and lots of shelves.  They were lined with the most curious books of all kinds and sizes.  The volumes that didn’t fit on shelves were stacked in corners and against walls; everything was piled high, literally to the ceiling.  There was so much accumulated paraphernalia that it was difficult to see because the light was always blocked off by something in the way. 

      All the binding on the books was a dark, nondescript color and all the books emitted a stale and musty odor.  There was dust everywhere.  There wasn’t a surface that wasn’t covered with heavy dust.  That’s what made finding anything so incredibly difficult.  There was so much dust on every book or box that it settled like a heavy saddle on a sway backed horse.

      All day Garrison looked for the lost card.  At the end of the day his only reward was a painful reminder of his poor management skills and the discovery of what appeared to be the entire dust collection in the world.  However, in a small and unthinkable corner, for Garrison rarely went to that part of his store, there the card sat  on the shelf.  He dusted it off and read the words: Victor, the Fix-it man.  No job to big.”

      “This seems to be it”, smirked Garrison to himself.  “Pretty simple card.  Not much imagination for a guy to think he can fix everything,” he grumbled to himself.

      Even as he made his way to the telephone to make the call, he was still hesitant and cautious.  How much was this going to cost? Was the help really necessary anyway?  Surely there was a way to pry that door open and oil the hinges.  Anybody could figure it out. 

      The more Garrison thought about fixing the door himself, the more he thought he ought to at least give it another try.  So he stuck the card in his back pocket and went to find some tools.

      Garrison had little success as he pulled on the door.  It seemed almost impossible to get it open even an inch.  He poured all sorts of oil on the hinges, but to no avail; the door was as stuck as it could be.  He had no choice but to call for help.

      It wasn’t very long after Garrison placed the call that he heard a quiet knock on the door.  He had to actually listen carefully to discern that it was a real knock and not the wind.

      He went to the door, expecting to use all his brute strength to open it up.  To his surprise it opened rather easily; there were no squeaks or creaks from the hinges.  And the lock didn’t stick a bit.

      There in the doorway stood a simple looking man in plain clothing.  Garrison didn’t think much of him at first; he was so unremarkable in appearance. Garrison cautiously let him in.