I am blessed to have a handful of intimately close friendships that keep me alive.
They keep me sane.
They keep me accountable.
Last week, I got an email from one of my Fight Club-loving friends asking "How can I pray for you?" Before I had time to breathe, my mind began to race through the events of my life–doctor visits, financial limitations, ministering to students addicted to porn, being personally stretched thin, wanting to blog more (as therapy?)…but my reply was simply "I need more Jesus….I’d like to grab a book and hide out at a coffee shop for a while….I’d like to slip off with my laptop and answer the 136 new emails I got in the past 2 days…I’d even like to go home, go for a run, and then sit and watch Fight Club for the umpteenth time." (I am Jack’s complete lack of surprise….)
She quickly emailed me back with one of the greatest quips ever (Yes, from FC).
"To make soap, you must first render fat."
-Tyler Durden
I knew what I needed to do. Render fat. (In the soap-making process, what we think of as a liquid pre-soap mixture of fat is heated and refined, causing the unnecessary and leftover ‘stuff’ to rise to the top in the form of glycerin, leaving the ‘soap’ behind. The glycerin is then skimmed off the top and thrown away….unless you’re in a Chuck Palahnuik novel.)
So this week, I’m in the process of rendering fat. Removing the unnecessary crap in my life. I’m making soap. And if the first soap was made from the ashes of heroes, then this week, I’m burning some old heroes and breathing easier. I’m re-learning to say the 14th and 15th letters of the alphabet.
I may, in fact, get to hide out at a coffee shop and read, study, laugh, and get my hands on a litte more Jesus-time because of it. 