Ok, people…this is it. The end of the line; the day we’ve been preparing for is almost here…the Fast begins next Monday. Are you ready? Regulations for our Byzantine rite are that all persons who currently receive the Eucharist, that is...everybody, must abstain from all meat, eggs and dairy products on the first day of the Great Fast and on Great Friday; on all other Wednesdays and Fridays during the Fast we are to abstain from meat. These rules are the minimum we are expected to do. The MINIMUM? Do we really want to be known as the ones who only do the MINIMUM for Our Jesus? Well, all right then, what else can we do? It used to be that Christians would fast from meat, eggs and dairy EVERY day of the Fast; we can consider this. Older regulations suggest that fish was only eaten once a week, on a Sunday, and those who found that they desired to offer to God a greater fast would avoid, wheat, wine and oil as well. Some people of other rites eat only one meal a day and two snacks, some fast on juice alone, some eat only bread and water, some drink only water…All of a sudden giving up meat twice a week sounds pretty doable now, doesn’t it? After all, we actually LIKE pizza, right? The point I’m trying to make here is that for some people, like me, not eating meat is quite normal and hardly penitential at all. For those with a vegan lifestyle, these regulations would be considered an easy penance, or a perpetual fast, not a worthy offering to the Lord. It would seem that proper fasting must be a subjective thing. What is penance for one, may be pure joy for another. This is why we were taught in the Cheesefare Sunday epistle:
Romans 14:1-3 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.
So now that we have some information to help us in determining the type of fasting we may observe during this season, the question still remains…WHY? Why must we fast at all? When God created Adam, in his perfection, and before the fall, he was given every green thing to eat for food:
Genesis 1:29-30 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree ]which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so.
'Sounds like a black fast day to me. So, in the Garden of Eden, God told man to eat plants, much like we are told to do during the fast. We are given the opportunity to eat in the same manner that man ate before the fall. For hundreds of years man ate a vegetarian diet at the command of God, and eating meat was not introduced until after the flood.
Genesis 9:1-4 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
But why is man encouraged to eat the way Adam ate in order to prepare for to endure the season of Jesus passion and death? According to scripture, spiritual preparation has always included fasting.
Ezra 8:21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions.
Joel 2: 11-13 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
Mark 2:18-22 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.
Matthew 6:16-18 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 4:1-3 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
Imagine the audacity! The evil one dared to tempt Christ! How much more bold will he be to approach us when we are about to do something in honor of Christ! How will we withstand it? Just as a marathon runner strengthens himself as he prepares to run an important race by running more and more each day, we are called to prepare ourselves by forsaking the treasures of the world, in order to grow closer to God gradually, beginning with the food our body does not truly need. Temptation comes to us in so many ways, the most humble, yet the most overlooked form of which is simply…food. If we can prove to ourselves that we can forsake something like a piece of chocolate, or a steak dinner, we can surely forsake other temptations which are more blatantly sinful. It’s like spiritual conditioning. We must also strengthen our resolve not to give in to the voice of the enemy, no matter what form he takes….even cheesecake. Remember, he was once an angel of light...he’s cunningly brilliant! I mean, who could say no to a piece of cheesecake, right? Beware friends!
Fasting takes on an entirely new dimension when one begins to look at the regulations from a nutritional point of view. Does the church ask us to give up things we truly need for survival? Absolutely not, we are asked to return, temporarily, to the diet of Eden, where we may eat of any and every tree of the garden, any green plant!
When we begin to nourish ourselves in this way we see that the possibilities for delicious and nutritional meals are truly endless. We must begin to focus on what we are called to eat, instead of what we are forbidden to eat. Personally, I think this is the key to success. When our bodies begin to exist on plant food alone, especially when the quantity of food is moderated as well, a detoxification process begins, releasing the build-up of the hard-to-digest animal matter from our digestive system, and the insoluble fats from the blood stream. This may manifest itself in a host of different ways, the least of which may be headache and irritability. Fasting is not for wimps. As our bodies rebel a bit, we can offer this discomfort as a sacrifice to God, uniting it to His discomfort in Gethsemane when His own body rebelled against the idea of crucifixion.
Reality begins to set in for those of us who are emotional eaters…I know this well. When some souls are in emotional distress, the first thing they search for is comfort…that is, comfort food. When fasting, that emotional crutch is taken away and the soul must begin to rely not on macaroni and cheese, but on God….a hard, but necessary lesson. Some may laugh at this analogy, but I trust there are others who know exactly what I mean. Imagine the inner strength a soul can cultivate by gaining mastery over this demon! He looks innocent, even ridiculously harmless, but for some he is pure evil, in that he keeps us from enjoying the strength of character that God designed for us.
Acknowledging the difficulty that we have in gaining mastery of our diet may enlighten us to the difficulty others have in gaining mastery over other aspects of their spiritual and even physical lives. We gain empathy for others by fasting. If I cannot resist the simple chocolate bar, how can I judge someone struggling with a more intense temptation?
Fasting is not at all easy, even if it is not done well. The physical discomfort merely mirrors the spiritual changes that are taking place within, and when we are done, we should be truly changed. When we offer God our unnecessary “treats”, he transforms them into grace, and returns them to us as true and authentic nourishment, not just for the body, but for the soul. The enemy will try to convince you that this battle is too trivial, too silly, too unimportant…but great spiritual benefits await if you persevere!
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