Many people think that a fast way to loose weight is to not eat. The irony is that the body drops into survival mode and stores everything we eat into fat. The opposite affect from the one desired. Fasting for spiritual reasons is quite different. Putting my devotion to God above my need to quiet my stomach effects me in several ways. For many years, I couldn't fast because of pregnancy and illness. During those years, I would choose a simple breakfast of bread and cheese. The intent was to keep my focus on my Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus. Sometimes I fast because it is part of my routine. A Sunday set aside for Fasting. A habit cultivated over the years. Other times I feel a great need to do something to feel closer to God. Fasting fills that need. An action that I can do privately no matter where I am. I find that if I start my fast with a prayer dedicating my fast to a purpose I found that comfort or feelings of what to do come to me during these times. My perspective is shifted from the day to day living to a wider view of eternity. I existed as a spirit before I came here. I will continue to exist after I die and in time the resurrection will take me into eternity. I noticed that these shifts of perspective does not mean I don't need to do the dishes. It just puts them in their proper perspective of a minute blip in time. The job is not quite so big. Sometimes I fast and go hiking. I love hiking in the desert and watch how brilliant the plants are in their design for surviving those conditions. I often feel closer to heaven in the desert than I do in church. Fasting helps me to put my spiritual well being ahead of my physical needs. It is a personal shift of focus. A reminder that my spirit needs nourishment as much as my body does. Fasting, prayer with scripture study and pondering feeds my soul in a way that helps me to feel more connected within myself. For me, prayer can reach a level of meditation that clears my mind of life's clutter. Clearing my mind and focusing on my gratitude for blessings or a articulating a problem to my Heavenly Father. I believe that each person can have a personal relationship with Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. I can intensify this feeling of fasting by taking the amount of money that I would normally spend on the meals I miss and give that money to feed the poor. I was once told that it reminded us of those that go hungry. I didn't see it that way, since I knew I would have another meal before the end of the day. The poor know hunger because it is with them always. For each person fasting, prayer, meditation, giving to the poor are personal to express their devotions.
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| Visiting this cactus out in the desert helped me accept my scarred body after cancer surgery. God loves the cactus and me. |
3 comments:
Thank you, Ruth. I lived in abject poverty so my fasting was a matter of economics. I could not afford to buy food. Once a week, a friend would have me over for dinner. Although they never pointed out my weight loss, I could tell they were concerned: A healthy 27/28 yr. old at 5'7" does not drop from 125/130 lbs. to 92 lbs. in a year unless they're starving. And starving in the Land of Plenty was shameful. So were my clothes, which hung off me. I was shamed by a guy whose advances I gracefully rejected who taunted me on my way out of his door, "Get some jeans and a belt that fit!"
I was intrigued by your reference to reaching a state of meditation secondary to fasting. The closest I got to that kind of meditation during that period was focusing on my cross-stitch on linen which took my mind off how much my stomach burned, how light-headed I was, how water didn't sustain me. The cost for the linen and the threads/needle were below $1.50. I was so fortunate that a couple who were very much into Early American decor saw one of my 16x20" Samplers and asked me if they could purchase it-I was stunned! They weren't for sale, actually. I told them I would make one identical to the one they saw (I wanted the back neater than the original one) and it would take me a few weeks to do it. They agreed.
When it was finished, they paid me $25.00. That fed me for weeks on generic tuna fish and eggs which I hard boiled. I knew from my hair falling out I needed protein desperately.
I still have a few of the Samplers from those years framed and hung around the house. My last one from that first horrible year was a simple one which is framed and hung where you walk in my front door: It's a smaller one with a very large, complicated border and center which says, "Love One Another."
You embody that spirit.
TW
Thank you TW. I am sorry you went through such a difficult time.
I, too, knew the importance of fasting for a purpose. Then I heard this:
"Fasting is prayer...fasting without prayer is a diet."
It finally all made sense.
I chose to go without food, calling it fasting, but my underlying intention was to lose weight. I chose to eat every other day. It worked. I lost weight. My world was focused on not eating. I was completely missing the point.
I remember all the meals I skipped because in a house full of food there was nothing I was allowed to eat or what I was allowed to eat made me sick.
The above quote helped me regain perspective.
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