Jay's Health Day 53: SHOCKINGLY EXCELLENT

About 4 days ago I started to pee furiously and now my lower legs are normal.

Thomas saw me for the first time in about a week and said with a grin, "you are looking kinda skeleton like."

My brain seems fine. All vital signs are good - steady heart at a resting rate of 60/min. Eyes are back to normal. Rare to have much weakness or nausea, very rare.

My regimen for about a week now:

For Darfur, trying to establish the urgency, the Truth of "global family emergency" that has been missing from all the activism I've lost an estimated 45 lbs leaving another 10-20 to get to an Auschwitz skeleton of 110 lbs. Upon hitting that profile I'll go shirtless as much as possible in front of the embassy to try to bring the Holocaust to a City and world that obviously does NOT "remember. " See: The world is doing nothing to halt the genocide is again being perpetrated in Darfur - that was the message from Yosef (Tommy Lapid), a Holocaust survivor from Budapest, who now serves as chairman of the Yad VaShem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem for the six million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis during World War II.

To burn the weight I walk at a brisk pace with the posters for 8 - 12 hours per day which at 240 cal/hr is 2000-3000 cal/day!!!! Two to three times per day I am notching in my belt!

Beverly's sister Ellen :-) is wonderful at keeping me going with about 600 cal/day of pureed fruit, tuna fish, chicken, V8, Vitamins.... She is the mainstay of this operation - a true Godsend. A GODSEND. Every day she is by with encouragement, nutrition, news, friendship, warm stuff, whatever, friendship, warmth.... Please pray to see if you should support her. I'm beginning to see that she is the Saint in the bunch. It is a great joy to come into relationship with her.

My lower body after about the first two hours each day of walking is in pretty severe pain. A hike with Gerry, Dave and Steve is what I can liken it to. In this case, I think a lot of the padding in my joints and on the bottom of my feet is reduced (digested). Anyway, that is what if feels like.

Sleeping has become extremely difficult because of great pain in my feet and knees at night. Also, I am choosing rest every 1-3 hours from walking, I sit, take of my boots, and invariably nap for 30-6o minutes.

But absolutely I see not permanent damage so far, and I have a hunch now that there may be none. God's will be done.

When I am really skeleton-like, if they are available, I expect to consume as many calories / day as necessary to maintain my weight and to avoid further degradation. I can see myself in front of the Embassy and in the area (there is a heavy-traffic intersection half a block east that I am now harassing - fully covering with my march with posters) for many, many months.

Water is always brought by my dear sister Ellen but passers by offer it once every day or so. One or two bring V8 or Ensure, or Vitamin Water.

Three folks from Amnesty International have stopped by. Will be interesting to see where that leads.

NPR was by a week ago, Kitty, at 2am for 45 min interview. Hasn't been back to finish. Interesting. No other news triggered by the Wash. Post article. This is NOT a good sign. God's will be done. I mean that with all my heart. I see Him/Her/It clearly now as the only force that has ever served what I value and the only one that there is.

My entire hope is in God/Love/Brotherhood/Truth/Life - exactly where Jesus, Gandhi, King, Teresa... placed ALL of their hope. Everything hinges upon us ALL gaining this clarity.

With the intensive "intersection walking" that depends on split second timing with green and red lights so I get all N S E West traffic within about an 80 second cycle reading is now out, praying is very difficult and managing the pain is what plays most on my mind. This is a wonderful experience - this is the real thing - from the Soul, in Solidarity Serving. The first weeks where I was sedentary were much easier for two reasons:
* The campaign was new,
* and it was extremely spiritual with all day to read and pray.

Now it is all work - all service. Neither is better. This "work" phase is harder, but also more "real," more mature, more promising, more saintly. So much to learn about how to "live just as Jesus lived," as John rightly pointed out it is ALL about.