Fast Food

Monday 8 March to Sunday 14 March

Sometimes when I get really engrossed in a task I simply forget to eat.  Then when it comes to the evening my stomach reminds me that it hasn’t eaten for 24 hours.  My wife, Dibs, thinks this is crazy “How can you just forget to eat?”, she’ll say.  The truth is I was involved in something that held my attention; food became of secondary importance.

After Jesus has talked to the woman at the well in John 4 he is so filled up on what has just happened that he doesn’t need to eat.  The disciples urge him to eat, but Jesus is replete; his earthly craving sated by his heavenly work. 

The period of Lent has always been associated with Jesus’ 40 day fast in the desert at the start of his earthly ministry.  As a result Lent is often linked with giving up, or fasting from, such things such as chocolate or biscuits for instance.  Regular fasting has always formed part of the spiritual disciplines of the church, but it’s become a rather forgotten discipline.

Our bodies can go with no food and only water for at least 40 days without any damage.  A healthy man can last between 50-75 days without food.  And yet if we miss a meal our bodies scream out to us that they must have food.  Living in an age where the norm is to give in to any bodily urge, it is, perhaps, not surprising that most of us indulge our bodies and shovel in the calories.

The bizarre thing is that our bodies are actually lying to us!  They don’t need food for at least another 40 days ……  It takes an act of informed discipline to refuse to give in to hunger and fast.  Learning to take control of our bodies in this way can also reap rewards in other areas too, such as better mental acuity, increased energy levels, identification with those who hunger, reduced need for sleep, not to mention weight loss!

We all know how sluggish and lethargic we can feel after a big Sunday lunch.  But the opposite is also true that we are more alert after not having eaten for a while.  This can make it easier to hear what God is trying to say to us, or to think through a situation with Godly wisdom.  When you break the fast, food tastes even sweeter and you are filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude that, after all, we do have food to eat in abundance.

When it comes to fasting we can be tempted to feel rather spiritually superior.  It can feel as though we have proved our seriousness and now God must act; we are fasting in order to force God’s hand.  Fasting is a discipline which naturally flows out of a truly spiritual life, it doesn’t make one on its own.

As a wise person once said “we fast to experience hunger and, realising our emptiness and dependence, to seek the One who alone satisfies our needs”.

Exercise

We are going to be building up as the weeks progress, so that by Easter we will be eating more simply and fasting one or two days a week.  This week choose a suitable day and fast.  Decide beforehand what sort of fast you will do and stick to it!

Here are some good options:

1.  Don’t eat at all for one day.  Have a normal meal in the evening the day before and a normal breakfast the following day.  Don’t forget to drink fluids.  If you just drink water you might get a caffeine headache as most of us drink lots of caffeine.  If you do get a headache swap to tea rather than coffee for the day.  You might want to get ahead of the game and swap to tea for the whole of Lent as we will be thinking about cutting out coffee later on.

2.  If you can’t manage a whole day why not miss just breakfast and lunch; and then you will have managed a 24 hour fast. 

3.  If not eating for a day or 24 hours is too much of a big step, then still miss the meals but allow yourself to drink fruit juice and eat very simple food such as raw fruit or vegetables in small quantities. 

4.  Or you could cut out just one meal, eating only simple food for the rest of the day.

The good news is that Sunday is not a day for fasting – the more astute amongst you will have worked out that Lent is actually longer than 40 days… that’s because Sundays are not included; they are for feasting and celebrating!

Don’t fill the spaces that you may have made by missing a meal with other activity.  Use the time that you have “liberated” to pray or listen or take a walk.  Let the inevitable complaint of your stomach remind you of your reliance on God for your daily bread.  And let it bring solidarity with all who experience hunger on a daily basis.

While you are fasting you might feel you have less patience, you might feel physically cold, this is normal – don’t worry!

Bible Verses to Ponder

“But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” - Matthew 6:17-18

`Why have we fasted,' they say, `and you have not seen it?  Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?'  "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.  Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.  You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.  Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself?  Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?  Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? – Isaiah 58:3-5

Prayer for the Third Week in Lent from the Church of England

Almighty God, whose dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Verse to Remember

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." – Matthew 4:1-3

Things to do

In Jesus’ day the very spiritual fasted twice a week from sunrise to sunset – Luke 18:12.  If you get a lot out of the one fast why not go for another day? 

Normally a fast would imply not eating, but there are other types of fast in the Bible:

• Abstinence from choice food or wine as Daniel did in Daniel 10:3
• Abstinence from other things such as sex - 1 Corinthians 7:5

You might try giving up your iPod for a day or have a media free day…  You could have a day where you don’t watch TV but use the time to listen to God, read a book, or talk.

I heard today of a young man who is only eating one meal a day of dhal or a bowl of rice during Lent.  He wanted to identify with the majority of those who only have one meal of rice or dhal a day.  He was giving the money saved to charity.  You could consider following his audacious lead?