fasting and feasting - lenten prayer

From the Lenten Devotional this week:

Turn this poem by William Arthur Ward, Methodist speaker (1921-1994) into a deeply honest confessional prayer by pausing after each phrase that begins with "Fast from..." and asking yourself if you need to confess and turn away from that behavior, thought, or pattern; then invite God to transform you according to the phrase that follows and begins with "feast on..."

Lent should be more than a time of fasting.
It should also be a joyous season of feasting.
Lent is a time to fast from certain things and to feast on others. 

It is a season to turn to God:

Fast from judging others; feast on  the goodness in them.
Fast from emphasis on difference; feast on unity of all life.
Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light.
Fast from thoughts of illness; feast on the healing power of God.
Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify.
Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.

Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.
Fast from worry; feast on divine order.
Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.
Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayer. 

Fast from hostility; feast on non-resistance.
Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.
Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal Truth.
Fast from discouragement; feast on hope. 

Fast from facts that depress; feast on truths that uplift.
Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm.
Fast from suspicion; feast on truth.
Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.
Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.
Fast from problems that overwhelm; feast on prayer that supports.