I love food. Anybody who knows me can testify to this. I love eating out and trying new cuisines, I love baking and licking the bowl, I especially like raw cookie dough, I love eating chocolate while watching a movie, I love adapting and tweaking new recipes and I love to eat Nutella by the spoonful. Quite simply, I love to indulge in food. Especially chocolate. Eating for me is both comforting and pleasurable.
So, it should come as no surprise that I have never been keen on fasting. I have convinced myself many times that it is simply ‘not for me’, and that it makes me frustrated and irritable, and hence defeats the intended purpose. Any attempt to abstain from certain foods or fast during Lent has almost always been a fail. I was always better at breaking my fast than sticking to it!
I have been made aware of many books and writings on fasting over the years which I have sometimes skimmed over but never really payed much attention to. Recently, I was reading Becoming Fire, written by Fr. Ken Barker mgl. This book is predominantly NOT about fasting so I was open to it. J I was very taken by the chapter written on ‘Dealing with the Flesh.’ It read:
“Some people think that the answer to life is ‘doing what comes naturally.’ More than often this means following one’s flesh inclination! We are fallen human beings… which means we are in constant battle with the flesh… You cannot belong to Christ Jesus unless you crucify all self-indulgent passions and desires.” Galations 5:24.
The battle with the flesh is essentially a battle against self-glorification and self-sufficiency. To live in the Spirit we must learn to master our inclination towards our immediate desires and our inherent drive to selfishness.
All of the above takes practice. To be governed by the Spirit means to renounce some of our fundamental desires and passions and this is not easy. This is where fasting comes in. Fasting is a way of training ourselves to be governed not by our flesh but by the Spirit. It turns out I was right to begin with… Fasting really ‘wasn’t for me.’ It wasn’t for me because it didn’t come naturally and it wasn’t easy. But this is precisely why it is effective.
People fast all the time for dieting purposes. Think of a detox. What is the purpose of a detox? To cleanse your system and eliminate waste. Well, fasting can be seen as a spiritual detox. Through fasting, we renounce our own desires and instead focus on God. In taking our eyes off things of this world, we are more open to the Spirit. We are humbled in our awareness of how much we long for God and how vulnerable we are. Through ‘emptying’ ourselves we recognise our deepest yearning for God.
"I humbled my soul with fasting" Psalm 35:13.
But don’t just think of fasting as abstaining from food. Everyone can give up something for a period of time to focus more on God. Even closing facebook for a while or turning off the television are forms of fasting. Just remember that fasting is about developing a lifestyle of self-denial and humility before God. Fasting may not be for you… But God certainly is and He longs for greater union with you. So be open to discovering ways of letting Him in! And believe me, if I can do it... You can!
Happy Fasting!
