Goodness time goes quickly and I had meant blog before this but here is the journey so far.…
I have found ‘Fasting’ by Scott Mcknight to be the most helpful thing I have read so far. He talks about the disconnect that has taken place in the modern world between our spirituality and our physical bodies. We simply don’t see our bodies as having anything to do with our faith.
I have been discovering lately the importance of posture in prayer and how what is happening to my body when I pray helps or hinders me in prayer. It made real sense to me therefore to begin to understand that fasting, far from being a tool of persuasion where we are begging God to do what we want, is in fact a physical sign of what is going on in our sprit.
‘Fasting is the body talking what the spirit yearns, what the soul longs for, and what the mind knows to be true’ (p11 S Mcknight ‘Fasting’)
I need God. I am acutely aware of my need of Him, life is not easy and the world is in turmoil, I need wisdom and courage and peace and strength, I simply need more of God in my life.
It was with this knowledge that I approached my first fast day last week.
I woke up several times the night before and found myself each time thinking of some reason why it might not be a good idea to fast that day! It has surprised me just how much food forms part of my attitude to the day ahead. I reward myself or comfort myself with food. If I have a difficult day ahead or am simply tired or grumpy I use food as a way to cheer myself up. I had not realised just how much this was the case till I faced the day ahead with no prospects of being able to ‘use’ food.
The thing that got me through was simply this thought, however much I want food today I want God more. It helped to think in terms of my body ‘talking what the sport wants’.
It wasn’t as hard as I feared and I was a lot more aware of talking to God during the day. On a practical level cooking for the family whilst not eating myself is no fun!
Having had a positive start I am sure things will get harder but I remain excited at what I might learn on this journey………….