A little more than a month ago I was sitting in the Pollo Campero in Columbia Heights meeting with a friend of mine by the name of Dave. We were discussing a 21 day fast that our church was doing which led into a discussion about Lent and fasting in general. Dave announced to me that he was planning to fast the entire year. Now before anyone thinks that Dave is planning on starving himself to death I will let you know that you can relax. Yes, food is probably the most common thing that people fast, but Dave has a bunch of things that he is planning on fasting and most of them are not food.
There is one thing in particular that stuck out to me from that conversation in addition to Dave’s plan to fast the entire year. Dave stated that we live in a society that pretty much declares that we can have whatever we want whenever we want it and that fasting was a great way to break out of the paradigm of “it is all about me.” That was more than a month ago and I cannot get it out of my head. I think there are several reasons for this.
First, there is so much truth to it and something that is really scary about this is how easily it allows us to neglect God. Just today on the way to work I was thinking what it must have been like to live in Biblical times. You wake up in the morning thirsty, or needing to take care of your morning constitutional. There is no running water, there is not a flush toilet, and come to think of it there is no roll of toilet paper that you picked up at the super market last week either. Funny, the Bible does not mention what people used to wipe with and I do not want to speculate here so we will leave that out. Anyway, this person needs to get some privacy and, I assume, bring a shovel--again another item that was probably not all that easy to procure. After this they can take on the second task of getting a drink of water, not coffee, not Red Bull, not Juice, Not Coca Cola, not any other of the plethora of choices that we have today. Perhaps milk could be a choice if they could find a cow or goat of the nursing, female persuasion, but we will stick with water. I wonder if this person has a container to fill or if they will have to simply use their hands as a cup. As I was thinking about this I could not help but think, “Wow, life in Biblical times was way simpler than the life we have today--more difficult for sure, but also simpler!” This simplicity must have made it easier for them to focus on God than it is for us. Fasting is a great way of simplifying our lives.
A second reason Dave’s statement stuck with me is because it was convicting—I rarely fast. Yes, I have given up beer for Lent the past two years—I actually gave up all alcohol, but anyone who knows me knows that I make the world’s top-ten list for beer snobbery. However, instead of using this time to reflect on God I substituted copious amounts of chocolate milk in beer’s place. This Lent I decided to limit myself to one Red Bull in the morning and only water for the rest of the day. I must say that it has not been easy for me, but when I think about how difficult it is I am trying to reflect on God and what it means to be in relationship with Him. I can also reflect on the Biblical people with no toilet paper, no running water and no flush toilet, which puts things in perspective and helps me to be thankful for the things that I do have. Next year maybe I could fast the flush toilet for Lent. However, I don’t think my wife will go for that!
I have probably heard the following definition of humility a dozen times over the past several years: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.” This is the third reason Dave’s statement stuck with me. It is crazy to me to think that we live in a society where we can have something that we want by whipping out a 2 by 4 inch piece of plastic—even if we do not have the money in the bank to pay it off. And it is even crazier that we can have the instant gratification of a new kayak paddle, new shoes, new bike or whatever while nearly half of the world’s population lives on two dollars a day and less than half the population of Africa have access to clean drinking water. I have been praying for humility and fasting is a form of humility. Of course giving up beer and all other drinks beside water and a daily Red Bull is not going to solve the issues of those living on two dollars a day and the clean drinking water problem in Africa. However, when we intentionally deny ourselves instant gratification it is a conscious decision to “think of yourself less” which very well could be the catalyst for solving such issues.
I wanted to add one final note here. This is my take on Lent and fasting, but it is certainly not the only one. I recently read an article, by a much more gifted writer than myself, which emphasized that the important thing with Lent is not what you take away, but what you add. After writing this entry it is certainly paradoxical that I loved this other article and I believe that both my blog entry and his article are spot on in the spirit of Lent. If you are interested in reading the other article you can find it here.
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