It’s been nearly a month since my last post. Things have been quite busy over at Nonprofit Productive and I confess that the tangible feedback I receive from that community makes it easier for me to invest in.
If you feel I should still write here via this blog, drop me a line. It’s been quiet of late.
Still, I have observations related to The Quiet Life that need to be shared. Hence, this second blog.
Where do you share what must be shared? I’m convinced that each of us must have places and ways to articulate what’s clanging around inside of us.
Which gets me to today’s topic: fasting. We are rounding the corner on the second half of Lent and now is the time, not unlike a long race, when you may feel tempted to quit.
Throw in the towel. Toss up the arms with a sense of, “it’s just not my year!” I get it.
But hold on... This is precisely why fasting makes so much sense. As one of the pillars of Lent (along with prayer and alms giving), fasting is likely the least popular because it’s hard to do.
Or is it?
I’m finding that fasting, even in small forms, can be very powerful. Fasting adds a physicality to our prayer. As with this blog through which I can “do something” with my thoughts, fasting allows us to do something beyond just saying prayers. We are doing prayer when we fast so long as our intention is good.
Even small fasts are significant. Offering up the better piece of pie for the next person in line, withholding a comment within a conversation, skipping that second serving at dinner when the first will do- these examples are real. And, just as important, they remind us that our faith is embedded in how we interface with the world. I suspect that each hour holds multiple opportunities for fasting from one thing or another.
I’ve been fasting from breakfast on Fridays for the better part of a year. Typically, I fast for one of my children. Often, I’ll add another 1-2 people who are going through a hard time. I don’t necessarily enjoy the pang of hunger but I do enjoy the unique sensation of uniting my body with my faith. In this way, my fasting is authentically prayerful.
What can you fast from today? God likely has a few moments just waiting for you.
If you feel I should still write here via this blog, drop me a line. It’s been quiet of late.
Still, I have observations related to The Quiet Life that need to be shared. Hence, this second blog.
Where do you share what must be shared? I’m convinced that each of us must have places and ways to articulate what’s clanging around inside of us.
Which gets me to today’s topic: fasting. We are rounding the corner on the second half of Lent and now is the time, not unlike a long race, when you may feel tempted to quit.
Throw in the towel. Toss up the arms with a sense of, “it’s just not my year!” I get it.
But hold on... This is precisely why fasting makes so much sense. As one of the pillars of Lent (along with prayer and alms giving), fasting is likely the least popular because it’s hard to do.
Or is it?
I’m finding that fasting, even in small forms, can be very powerful. Fasting adds a physicality to our prayer. As with this blog through which I can “do something” with my thoughts, fasting allows us to do something beyond just saying prayers. We are doing prayer when we fast so long as our intention is good.
Even small fasts are significant. Offering up the better piece of pie for the next person in line, withholding a comment within a conversation, skipping that second serving at dinner when the first will do- these examples are real. And, just as important, they remind us that our faith is embedded in how we interface with the world. I suspect that each hour holds multiple opportunities for fasting from one thing or another.
I’ve been fasting from breakfast on Fridays for the better part of a year. Typically, I fast for one of my children. Often, I’ll add another 1-2 people who are going through a hard time. I don’t necessarily enjoy the pang of hunger but I do enjoy the unique sensation of uniting my body with my faith. In this way, my fasting is authentically prayerful.
What can you fast from today? God likely has a few moments just waiting for you.