Enter the Cat part 2 09/01/09 - 09/02/09

So I'm going to write this blog today to encompass the past 2 days. I think I like writing every other day because well its easier but more importantly it allows me to compare and contrast and then conclude.

So Tuesday was interesting. Second day of suckin dirt. Still tastes bland, but doesn't hurt as much today however I have been in some new found amazing back pain. I've never felt pain like this and its funny how God has found it appropriate to allow the worst and most persistant pain I've felt in years go hand in hand with relearning to eat. I mean seriously cut a fat kid a break here! Again more sob stories only worth value in the world of Paul. I'm not sure why I'm going through this, its causing me lack of sleep, I'm torturing my wife and its costing me at work my ability to think and sell. However not all has been lost, the Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want. I've got a great group of supporters and they've been working me through all of this. Monday was more of a physical pain day then a hungry day, even my hunger for the word really wasn't all there. I went to the prayer room finding myself most distracted, I don't think I do well when there's the live feed playing because I focus on the performance vs whats being sang aloud. I've also noticed I've been much more quiet lately, yet more alert. Gary had a good trip today to work, people are starting to really ask questions and am trying to explain it the best I can to the skeptics and non believers whom already think I'm nuts. I take him home, put him in the bathroom as usual but forget to shut the door.... Gary received a free haircut (and we all know what free haircuts look like) courtesy of my sadistic cat Aldo. Sorry Gary

Now for Wed, 09/02/09

Today has been overwhelmingly confusing but God is good. After a complete night of restless sleep due to throbbing back pain, hallucinations due to an aggressive heat pad + muscle relaxers... I forgot Gary at home and was bummed because its been kind of my cheer leader and dirt eating professional go to guy. Today I'm not so much as concerned about food as much as I am why I'm learning to eat from the dirt. God taught me a ton of lessons today and started to show me the value of such a plight. First off, don't forget your biggest fan at home. Christ is our biggest fan, He's constantly wearing the Team Paul shirt and is always looking out for me and providing a good example. Gary in all of this is similar in that Gary will not and cannot force itself upon me. Christ will not and cannot force Himself upon me because of the rules He's setup for himself as he desires true relationship not forced worship. He will encourage you, send signals to you and even slightly guide you but will never force you to do anything even if he knows its for the better.

Enter the confusing part

God speaks to me at 3ish today and tells me "I've released you from learning to eat dirt" and I got double excited when my friend JD explains to me that a fast typically ends at sundown the final day. So the romance begins... I can smell the cheese, the meat, the everything pizza or the unlimited taco etc... I am at the finish line all is well just a few more hrs and I'll destroy the nearest sub shop etc. But how many of you know God's got jokes? He's full of them., and not malicious ones but ones that bear a lesson inside and later you find funny and rewarding. So I find out that other people including pastor Ed, and the interns etc have all fasted with me to encourage and do life with me.... however due to ahem... a miscommunication I started Monday and everyone else started Tues with a 3 day finish line. So I'm like who cares right I'll finish today, stuff my face and everyone will wrap up Thursday... God has released me I'm golden. However after a long discussion with my pastor and my close friend JD that I would be letting my friends down in retrospect if I didn't complete day 4. I hated hearing that, and I really had every intention of quitting tonight since hey... I did my 3 days. However a few things came to mind. A) The word God gave me (thanks for the reminder JD) that I was to go back to the jungle, but if your in the jungle just because your ahead doesn't mean your out if you have friends still in. B)

Eating dirt will make you hurt! Monday 08/31/09

Today I successfully took Gary to work and back with no issues however this morning while getting ready I had realized Gary's top leaves are getting a little brown.. not all just about 4. I had recently misted Gary but I haven't earned a solid watering for about 2-3 days now. I'm a little nervous but again Gary shows me up and is the least bit concerned. Its almost as if He knows that from time to time his leaves are going to get brown; that its a natural part of reduction to feel a little pain. Today I had to learn to pull from the soil and quite frankly its horrible. Soil is tasteless, and arguably bland however meets the needs of Gary and therefore seemingly meets the needs of me. Now let me clarify a bit here, I'm not "EATING" real dirt however I'm processing myself spiritually to pull from an energy source beyond my pie hole. As I was sharing with a friend today there was a situation when I was younger say about 15 in which I truly felt physical hunger so bad that it made me almost regurgitate, it spooked me and I swore to myself I would never allow myself to get to that point again. So in retrospect I've done an overly good job at keeping myself physically fed but far from spiritually fed. The world states that as long as your stomach is full, and your pockets are full you're doing pretty good. The reality is is that I'm finding it how truly blasphemous it is to live a life through your stomach, to horde for no particular reason. To be ok with God giving you on demand vs storing constantly or at least being obsessed with storing. Gary has taught me that he pulls in every ray and every drop on demand and stores very little... that's why he's susceptible to drought.. and he's ok with that. Again its one thing to store for a long journey but I see that as more of a purpose driven storing with an approaching time line... in conclusion, I've learned that storing out of fear is the real enemy.

Thanks again Gary.

08/28/09-08/30/09

So here we are, Sunday afternoon not a worry in the sky. I'm resting. I've got everyone in my life telling me I need to rest though it might as well be the "F" word to your average Italian. See I've been raised and formed and molded to the concept that Work = Worth. The more you work, strive, fight, kick and claw your way to success in this world... the more your worth. So the past 3 days have been interesting because I've really not done much as I've been comparitively idle. In observing Gary for the past 72 hrs I've noticed one thing... He doesn't care. He doesn't care where he's moved, whats for dinner, whats on TV or for that matter what I or you think. He just is. Planted firmly in the soil taking up whatever water or food it is given or not given. This Monday starts a new step in my spiritual journey to understanding Christ. For 3 days I will be pulling from the soil which quite frankly I've never done before. I think the timing is correct and I am glad I have a expert companion whose accustomed to doing life like this. My prayer for the week will be for God to adjust my palate to the living soil and not of the dead immediate. Thanks Gary.

From the begining to now... my life with Gary.

Life With Gary by Paul Cilia

For the past 5 min's I've been wrestling with how I will write this blog. Do I start by talking about myself? Do I start by explaining details of Gary? Maybe I should simply just write about how it all started on one crazy Thursday when I received my plant Gary. Actually, I'm going to start from the true beginning which was the previous Saturday... Yes, that's where I'll start.

Okay so on Saturday the 15th, of August 2009 Ed Peterson, my friend and pastor had requested that I take on a plant to carry around for 40 days of which I would be allowed to water it, give it sunlight and occasionally food based on responses to his blog Information - Meditation - Application. At first and even till today I've been hesitant to do anything of this nature because well... its uncomfortable. I mean seriously who wants to carry around a dumb plant that will somehow parallel some spiritual understanding of which will make me look even more rediculous that my Jesus loving ways already painted on me. Long story short I told Ed on that Saturday He's crazy and I'm not interested. So Thursday evening comes along and I pick up my plant at the Onething Prayer Center. I read a little about it on its tag and its called a Neanthebella Palm, it likes moist soil, requires little light and thrives indoors. I'm like well at least the plant is hardy and can't be killed easily. I put it in my trunk and go home.

The next morning I head into work and realize that I've left this idiotic plant in my trunk and if I leave it in there all day in the Florida sun I might as well kiss it goodbye and it won't even be 24 hrs and I'd have a sauteed plant with a hint of car fumes. Personally at this point I could care less but since I'm not one for failing on day one or failing in general I ended up having to walk from my time clock back through the parking lot to my car, and go back again. In my journey back I'm starting to get the looks, but at this point its just a plant I'm bringing into work for my desk no big deal.... until the maintenance guy decided to take the first crack.. NICE PLANT PAUL..... I whipped up a fast one and said " Ya its name is Gary" which just coincidentally happens to be his name as well.

At this point I just realized I fell into a trap, I've now named the plant. Everyone else at the prayer center has named their plant of which I'm like "this is ridiculous its a flipping plant" and voila... its no longer just a plant its Gary.

Enter the Cat Day 1 Friday 08/21/09

So day one with the plant at work is over, not to bad can't complain gotta few questions but nothing out of the ordinary. I bring Gary inside and before I can even get the plant on the table.. Gary is under attack. My clinically insane cat Aldo somehow within 120 seconds has identified this as food and is just mauling it. Normally I shoo him away from things etc but oh no... IT WAS ON! I've never seen this cat so intensely focused on obtaining one thing and one thing only... Gary. It was as if one taste was all he needed to be fixated on some carnal desire to strip this plant like a sports car parked in Detroit. It was so bad that both my wife Nickel (who also is carrying a plant named Beatrice) had no choice but to lock the two plants up in the guest bathroom. At this point you'd think game over right? Cat should figure out he ain't getting it etc.... but oh no it was like as if Pizza was in that room and you were some chunky kid being tortured by its aroma! My cat spends the next 3-4 hrs whining, pawing, and climbing things to get the door open. Its amazing how as ingenious he was in his attempts at getting the doors open it never dawned on him that it simply was out of his reach. He finally quits when its time for us to go to bed and gives way to the more reachable ideal of snuggling at our feet for the evening.

Day 2-3

left in guest bathroom for the weekend

Didn't even bat an eye as pure and simple this is a dumb plant and technically I left it with my wife while I was out so bare min I had a baby sitter and vice versa.

Day 5- Mon 08/24/09

The Bathroom is Gary's new home.

I wake up late, grab a Fuze drink and out the door. Gary spends the entire day locked in the bathroom with no lights.

I arrive to work only to have people asking me about my plant, my wife comes by who also works with me and gives me the shame shame finger deal about forgetting my plant. Its a stupid plant and I've got better things to do than bother with something that I normally wouldn't even hesitate hitting with a John Deere. I pure and simple don't want to do this plant thing. Why in the world did I do this and begin to think Ed maybe pressured me into this and I get a little ticked at him for about an hour. I go to the prayer center after work and answer some basic questions about the plant, earned the right to water it. I go home, and don't even water the plant.... in the bathroom it stays and frankly that's where it will likely die as far as I'm concerned because I really don't need this in my life right now. Sorry Gary its nothing personal. On a further note the cat is still trying to eat it but for whatever reason I won't let the cat in the bathroom to total the plant just to be spiteful and quit.

Day 3 Tues 08/25/09

Plant still in bathroom

Wife is on me like white on rice about retarded plant. Cat still wants to eat the forbidden fruit.... and I'm about to just let him go for it. I forgot the plant this morning to take to work and its the least of my concerns.

Day 4 Wed, 08/26/09

Plant almost left the house and no water or light I actually intended on taking this plant to work but i forgot it and again its starting to work on me today. I HATE failing. I hate quitting. That's why I normally don't sign up for stuff I know I don't have time for. I work not only my 40 hr a week job but I also own http://www.groundsunited.com/ which requires allot of building and maintenance before fundraising season. Coffee is on the brain, stupid plant ranks up there with polishing my clunker car and learning to dance. I drop Ed an email, more less stating I'm just about done with this plant, I've forgotten it in a bathroom for about 5 days without light, food, water, etc. This MUST be a sign I'm too busy. Feel free to read Eds blog to see my dumb letter full of lame excuses that are only valid currency in the Land of Paul. I go home work on the website, and ask my wife to use my watering I earned on Monday because frankly its just not cool to not water a plant.

Day 5 Thursday 08/27/09

We have lift off

So today after 5 days of no light, 1 watering and no food. I actually remember to bring Gary in to work and honestly only because I had to run to the nearest bathroom as I was exiting the apt. I said well I watered it and it doesn't look dead yet so maybe I can give it another crack. If Gary could talk I imagine he's relieved to leave the bathroom as out of all the places one could spend 5 days in... the bathroom is not ones choice however in reading Mathew 5 it pretty much sums up that the plant doesn't care where its at or what its doing it just simply is. So that kinda made me feel better that it isn't judging me and telling me how much I suck at taking care of him. Its not his fault I'm busy and quite frankly its not his fault I said yes to receiving him. So after finishing my business, I pick Gary up and put him on the counter next to the door, go to the fridge and grab my Fuze drink and I mean it wasn't even 10 seconds and the once slumbering psychopath cat known as Aldo is up and going to town on Gary! Oh boy! So I whack the cat with a full bottle of Fuze and IT DOESN'T PHASE HIM. Ladies and gentleman.. I love my cat. I'm not abusive to my animal but sometimes a good thud to the butt is what a cat needs to get the point. In this case it was more like the Terminator taking a bullet... he's just mowing down on this plant and even in pulling him off HE'S TRYING TO EAT IT! Sheesh.... so I start to think more sensibly and ask myself "Why does this cat want to eat this plant so badly" and at that moment I realize I have just received my first God moment with my plant. I realize that the cat will never let this go and its likely my cat which is also my responsibility probably needs to eat some greens to help his digestion. I look at the plant, and none the less cut a piece of Gary off very gently. God reveals to me at that point that He too allows parts of our life to be cut off and sometimes its to benefit others. We as Humans fear the pain and suffering of the removal and sometimes are quick to judge God's reasons. The reason was clear for me to cut a small piece for my cat, as I figured hey Aldo needs this and low and behold when I came home today a pile of digested Gary was left for me on display on the bathroom tile as if it was almost a twisted level of homage paid by my cat. I thanked God for the experience today, and also threw in there the appreciation of my cat choosing tile vs the carpet.