Light Lenten Reflections

Week 2

Something Fishy about Fasting?

Growing up Catholic, my brother and I loved Fridays. In addition to both of us inheriting a love of fishing, we both also inherited a love of eating fish. In the Catholic tradition of abstinence from meat on Fridays, meatless meals translated into fish meals in our house. During Lent, our grandmother, in keeping with an older eastern European tradition of abstinence on Wednesdays as well, would serve us fish twice a week. Heaven! On Sundays, my grandfather would take us down to the docks in Freeport and wait for the trawlers to come in. We would buy bags of fresh fish, whatever the catch of the day might be, and bring them home, fish so fresh they would still be flopping around in the kitchen sink, much to the chagrin of my grandmother who had the task of cleaning them. These fish would be our Lenten delights for the week. We kept with the traditional Catholic Lenten mandates of abstinence from meat on Fridays (Wednesdays were freebies.) and fasting (defined as not eating between meals and eating only one full meal a day, the other two meals not to equal the full meal). The spiritual purposes of such eating were lost on my brother and me, sometimes the meatless meals bringing out the sin nature in each of us - “Mom! He got one more shrimp than I got!” “Well, she got more flounder last week!”

As this good Catholic girl grew up, I fully participated in all the Lenten observances, both the mandatory and the voluntary. And I pondered them. Giving up sweets for Lent, a form of abstinence or what is also known as partial fasting, was an exercise in self-discipline and self-control, a good thing. But that “self” part haunted me. Yeah, I could see some spiritual benefit in fasting to build my self-control muscles, but 40 days without sweets would be a bigger benefit toward me getting a smaller body. Fasting from TV would give me more time to read or draw or do other more noble things, but unless I purposed to read only spiritual books, I would probably only grow in my understanding of the nuances of mid-twentieth century teen novels. And, well, the meatless meals during Lent would always have the subtext of “Yay! Fish!!!!” I was beginning to realize there was something fishy about my view of fasting...

Over the years my understanding of true fasting and abstinence has grown and matured. The insights into fasting that have come to most resonate with me see fasting less as strengthening my self-discipline and more as strengthening my relationship with God. David Mathis, in his excellent article Fasting for Beginners,* outlines six simple but important points to think about while contemplating fasting. In his second point, planning what to do instead of eating, he says:

Fasting isn’t merely an act of self-deprivation, but a spiritual discipline for seeking more of God’s fullness. Which means we should have a plan for what positive pursuit to undertake in the time it normally takes to eat. We spend a good portion of our day with food in front of us. One significant part of fasting is the time it creates for prayer and meditation on God’s word or some act of love for others.

Before diving headlong into a fast, craft a simple plan. Connect it to your purpose for the fast. Each fast should have a specific spiritual purpose. Identify what that is and design a focus to replace the time you would have spent eating. Without a purpose and plan, it’s not Christian fasting; it’s just going hungry.

Mathis goes on to encourage fasting from things other than food:

Fasting from food is not necessarily for everyone. Some health conditions keep even the most devout from the traditional course. However, fasting is not limited to abstain from food. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “Fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some special spiritual purpose.”

If the better part of wisdom for you, in your health condition, is not to go without food, consider fasting from television, computer, social media, or some other regular enjoyment that would bend your heart toward greater enjoyment of Jesus. Paul even talks about married couples fasting from sex “for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer” (1 Corinthians 7:5).

(Emphasis mine.)

This Lent, I felt a gentle tugging to give up what had become a time-sucking, growing habit of computer solitaire. I've laid aside Forty Thieves, Spider, Terrace and an embarrassingly large number of other games, as well as my justification for playing them - “Oh, they're just short bouts of mental exercise!” I'm using the time previously spent thinking of card-playing strategies to both pray more and write more, and to pray about writing more. This kind of fasting doesn't have that fishy feeling of my youth. This kind of fasting feels less about giving up something and more about going toward Someone. Nothing fishy about that...

Something to Ponder:

Inside or outside Lent, how do you view “giving up” things? Is it all about you – losing weight, healthier life style, more time to pursue other interests? How would your life look different if you put an Other/God-focus on “giving up” things?

Something to Pray:

Grab a Bible or go to BibleGateway.com. Read Isaiah 58, or at least verses 6-12. This is a good picture of what true fasting looks like from God's eyes. Reread the beginning of verse 9. Wherever you might be in your thoughts about fasting, ask God to teach you how to call/cry out to Him in the midst of it. Reread verse 11. Ask God to guide you continually and to show you how to give over your “scorched” places and live like a watered garden.

A fast is not necessarily something we offer God,

but it assists us in offering ourselves. - Jen Hatmaker

Fasting confirms our utter dependence upon God by finding in Him

a source of sustenance beyond food. - Dallas Willard

*http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/fasting-for-beginners