Fast(ing) Food
By Sally Bishai (04/10/06)
If you belong to one of the several denominations that "fasts" during the year, you will know what I am talking about right off the bat. If you don't belong to one-or have no experience with those belonging to them-you may not have an inkling as to what I mean right NOW, but you will in a few minutes.
I originally got fired up about this topic several years back, when I regularly attended an Orthodox church.
Since I now live in the middle of nowhere and rarely attend a church of this denomination, the topic slipped my mind a bit, but a recent conversation with a friend reminded me of my passionate views.
See, certain denominations out there have more than one eating plan a year, and I ain’t talkin’ Weight Watchers VS Lean Cuisine.
Like, they can eat anything sometimes, they can’t eat meat on Wednesdays or Fridays, they can’t eat fish or flesh during certain stretches, and have to abstain from consuming oil—yes, oil!—at other times of the year.
I have no problem with fasting during the year, and, indeed, encourage believers to fast and pray when they have certain pressing issues on their minds and burdening their hearts.
However. I wonder if it is actually “fasting” when a person 1- actually eats during the day, and 2- loads down their plate with potatoes, artichokes, and three types of pasta salad! (For the record, pasta salad is my long-unrealized dream, and this “fasting” would be my heaven. Literally.)
Just in case you’re wondering, I HAVE actually seen this happen. Every Sunday (during the “fasting” portion of the year) after church, people pile their Dixie brand paper plates with enough pasta and fixins to feed a family of, hmm, 30 in Ethiopia. I’m serious.
Now, let it be known that I do NOT take fasting to be a “heaven or hell issue,” (special thanks to my friend Jeremy for introducing me to this phrase, which otherwise would have read “..let it be known that I do NOT take fasting to be one of those things that will allow you to go to Heaven.. or throw you, straightaway, into the depths of Hell!” Yep. Your debt of gratitude to Uncle J is a great one, my friends..).
Back to what I was saying, though, fasting should be an actual sacrifice. To FAST is to NOT EAT.
Furthermore, we’re supposed to use that time to pray in, not to go clubbing or watching E! True Hollywood Stories!
Restricting certain foods is no more fasting than is my abstention from alcohol a noble thing.
Meaning, fasting isn’t fasting when you’re “allowed” to eat pasta and potatoes, and you love carbs (or hate alcohol) as much as I do!
For those of you who still have no idea what I’m talking about, let’s consider yet another example; does a vegan, who does not eat any meat at all (among other things) count as “fasting” year round?
No! the intention has to be there, too, and, as I may have previously mentioned, the word “fasting” does generally bring the whole “not eating anything at all” to mind.
(Like, would you go to the Mayo Clinic for overpriced bloodwork—I mean, for a “fasting” blood test—with vegetarian chili and two cinnamon rolls in your stomach? Ok, maybe YOU would, but you’re the only one!)
Furthermore, while these scheduled and church-wide fasts are probably great for the morale of church-goers, they rob said church-goers from the whole “fasting because they want to” thing, or alternately, the whole “I have an issue that I’m concerned about and I really feel moved to pray about it” thing.
Scheduled fasts also sort of violate the verse that tells you to “go wash your face and look presentable and don’t go on about your noble sacrifice” when fasting.
And the “don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing” verse.
And, while we’re on the subject, the verse about “don’t stand on the street corner and pray with a foghorn, better to go into your closet at home and pray there and not be a big fat hypocrite.”
(By the way, I can say “big fat hypocrite” with nary a guilty conscience because, while I try to practice everything I preach—i.e., try to steer clear of hypocrisy—I am on the, erm, curvy side, a result of, what else? Pasta salad and potatoes. Sigh. Just so you won’t think I’m dissing my more rotund readers or anything.)
Please do not misunderstand me, brethren! I am not dissing the Catholic or Orthodox faiths; I do generally disagree with much of their doctrine and practices, but in a respectful manner that is the result of my study of scripture, and I only mention it out of a desire to separate church “tradition” from scriptural fact.
(Like, I can’t find the verse that told the Coptic Orthodox fathers to make the men sit on the left side of the church and the women on the right.)
Not that I think God will get mad at a person for pigging out on a “fasting” day—or accept a mass murderer into heaven just because he always ate the right thing on the right day—but again, what’s the use of carrying out the motions (or chanting in Latin or Coptic or whatever) if one doesn’t appreciate the meaning behind it?
Our motions, our movements as Christians should be a result of our devotion to Jesus.
“Living the life” is all fine and well, but we should never forget that our intentions and hearts are transparent to God, and that He is not mocked... and that we will “sow what we reap.”
So if we sow good actions from a good faith, a good relationship with JC, and good intentions, that’s great, but if we sow good actions/fake fasting/giving thousands to the poor, etc. and are NOT changed on the inside, then maybe we will, accordingly, reap a fake “reward” ?
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