Fast
and Feast
Today, we enter the Lenten season with the traditional
reading of Jesus going into the wilderness, fasting for forty days and then
facing three temptations. Lent was not
really something I practiced as a child.
My friends did, and I remember the things they gave up during this
season, mostly it was chocolate or soda.
I was curious as to why my friends did this practice, and in the basic
understanding of a middle school youth, my best friend explained, well – Jesus made
a sacrifice by giving his life for us, so we give up something that reminds us
of this sacrifice. As I’ve grown older,
I have grown to know and understand Lent more of the fast before the
feast. Easter and Christmas are the two
big feasts of the church and so each are marked by special times prior for the
fast.
Giving something up for Lent is more a practice of
fasting before the feast. Jesus was
baptized by John, filled with the Holy Spirit and then went into the wilderness
for forty days where he fasted. Why does
Jesus fast for forty days? Whenever we
see the number forty in our scriptures, God is working with God’s people to
transform them and reshape them. For
forty days, Jesus fasts prior to starting his earthly ministry. Even the Messiah, even Emmanuel God with us,
centers himself for forty days so that he is ready to enter into his calling,
his true purpose of speaking God’s word to others.
If we chose to give something up for Lent, if we choose
to enter into the fast, it should be done not just as the practice of giving
something up, but rather, as a spiritual practice, as a way to reconnect with
God in a deeper way. I for one, have never
been very good at fasting before the feast.
I think, on the other hand, that I have been good at fasting after the
feast, and this has been far from a spiritual practice. I remember when I was first starting in
ministry, as I began purchasing furniture for my condo, I found myself
overspending a bit, I put myself on restriction, no extras until I paid off my
credit card. Instead of saving up first,
and being able to pay for things up front, I fell into the pattern of using my
credit card and spending first, then paying things off. First the feast, then the fast. Credit cards make it very easy to do
this. Thankfully, I’ve been able to
change my spending habits and start saving first, then purchasing the item that
I need. But we do live in a culture of
debt, and that can have a spiritual impact on people.
Fasting and feasting, I think we get the feasting really
well. We jump from feast to feast to
feast, whether they are religious or just celebrations. I think I might still have some Halloween
candy floating around my house. I
usually cleanse it all out before Easter, when once again, our house seems to
refill itself with candy. Today is
another one of those days, Valentine’s day, where we indulge in chocolate and
other treats.
Jesus fasts for forty days, he sets aside a specific
amount of time to center himself in the sacred.
I’ve been leaning more and more towards the practice of adding something
into our lives during Lent. Adding a
spiritual practice, adding more time of prayer, or study, finding a book with
religious overtones, something that gives this period of time meaning and
purpose as we move towards Easter. One
year, I taught myself to knit and did prayer shawls for the Lenten season. Last year, I joined an online study group
where we worked through a book on using art as a religious practice. I’m thinking about redoing this study this
year, since I found it very meaningful and deeply spiritual.
On Wednesday night, I shared a devotion I came across,
that shared deep within human rituals is a yearning for the sacred. If you choose to participate in a Lenten
feast, or a Lenten spiritual practice, don’t do it just to do it, but ask
yourself what is the deeper underlying connection that it is calling you
to. For some, the deeper meaning of Lent
is a focus on Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
For other’s it is a calling to grow more spiritually connected to
God. For others, it is a time to ponder
our mortality, and the gift of eternal life given to us through the
resurrection. For others, it is an
understanding of God’s deep love for us, and making an effort as a person, to
participate in that love. For the early
church, Lent was the time set aside for new Christians to learn about the faith
and to be prepared for their baptism on Easter Sunday. I like the understanding that Lent is a
spiritual spring, a renewing of our faith, of our connection to the
divine. The art practice that I used
last year, helps identify the places in our lives where we might feel stuck,
and opens us up to God’s creativity and how God places creativity within
us. In and through creativity, we can
break out of old patterns and move ourselves into new places.
Deep
in every human heart is longing for relationship with the eternal. Deep in
every human ritual is the expression of that longing. Connect to the longing of
your people, the ways in which longing is expressed, and the worship rituals of
your community. In
this season of Lent, what longing is there within you and within this faith
community and can we use this time to name that longing, to pray for God’s
participation within it, and move ourselves into God’s future.
(Excerpts from Marjorie Thompson's book: Soul Feast - chapter on Fasting)
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