Facing 40.

No, I'm not turning 40. Been there, did that already.

What do you think of when you hear '40'?

• The standard U2 encore?

• The 40mpg you wish your car got?

• The 40 states in the union? (I land on 40 real states by disallowing the piddly little states like NH, DE, RI, CT, MA, NJ, VT and HI, each which would barely be a county in the midwest, the foreign one - The Republic of Texas - and Alaska, which we just bought from the Russians.)

Well, I'm facing the number 40. We're going in to a 40 day fast, and as strange as it seems to say it, I'm excited about it.

I did my first 40 day fast in 2000, in prep for Burning Man and TheCall. Like the Day of the Lord, it was great and terrible. Actually it was terrible to start with but it got great. The weaker I became, the stronger God began to show up.

We are a decidedly unlegalistic tribe when it comes to fasting. Our rules are "Don't ask, Don't tell." We all fast differently - some do only veggies, some only do water. Some fast by refraining to supersize (and we mock those kind, quietly, in a loving way....).

Seriously though, I'm asking for specific things in this fast...things I want to hear that only He can say with authority. I don't expect my fast will convince God to break the silence, but rather that my fast will silence me enough to hear The Voice more clearly. The best part of a fast is ridding yourself of all the noise in your life. In that place, He can whisper and you hear each word.

So here we go. Zero to 40. And don't ask me what I'm fasting. I won't tell you....