Hey, everybody, welcome to The Trench.
My name is Christian, and today we’re going to talk about practicing death by fasting.
Last week, when we explored how we are supposed to live for others, we discussed how there
is one really large obstacle to such a way of life: OURSELVES!
We frequently get in the way of ourselves serving other people because we're so preoccupied with
our own lives, our own fears, our own dreams, our own desires.
We are imprisoned by our love for ourselves.
Luckily, the Church, in her wisdom, gives us a real practical tool, a way of practicing
dying to ourselves so that we can live for others.
Any guesses as to what it might be?
Yep.
Fasting!
And wouldn’t you know it?
Tomorrow is the beginning of the Nativity Fast!
Raise your hand if you’re super excited about it!
...are you raising your hand? Cus, I can't tell.
Obviously, fasting is one of those things that we are always told to do.
But maybe we see it merely as a sacred diet, a time to “give up” certain foods we really
like and to settle for ones we are less than excited about.
If you’re like me, you’ve probably asked why we can’t eat meat or cheese for
40 days, and you’ve probably received a couple answers.
You’ve probably heard about how abstaining from particular foods for a period
can help us develop discipline in order to abstain from sins in the future.
For example, by refraining from eating meat for 40 days, we begin to develop the discipline needed to refrain
from becoming really angry.
Or maybe you have heard that we're supposed to think less about the food that we eat and more about
focusing on prayer.
The idea being that if we're spending less time and energy thinking about all these food options, then we have more time and energy
to focus on prayer.
These are definitely true and definitely good reasons for fasting, but today I want to focus on another reason that we fast
It has to do primarily with self-love, with our self-centered way of life, and
how fasting frees us from the prison of our own will.
We want what we want when we want it, and for the most part, we’re used to getting it,
or, we get really frustrated when somebody inconveniences us or gets in the way of us getting what we want
The Church, however, steps in and offers fasting, as a way of practicing putting our own desires aside,
practicing dying to ourselves, as we joyfully, voluntarily surrender our own will, over something
as simple as eating.
We have become accustomed to having our own way.
We are so used to getting things how we want them
that fasting seems like a really strange thing to us.
We're not used to giving up control of our own lives
Sometimes we may look at the fast of the Church and see that it prescribes abstaining from
meat and cheese, but we may think, “Well, I don’t really like meat and cheese as much
as I like chocolate.
Maybe instead I’ll just not eat chocolate for 40 days.”
This might not seem like a major issue in fasting.
After all, I’m resisting something I want and that takes discipline.
Right?
Well, right.
But it's still a problem.
You see the problem is that I'm self-obsessed, I'm so used to doing whatever I want
I have still made myself the final word in this scenario.
Instead of putting my will aside, I have actually placed it at the center of my spiritual life.
Fasting is a practice that is meant to be taken up voluntarily, wherein I
put my will aside and instead allow the Church to choose for me how I will eat.
Some of us may have certain dietary needs, and we should
discuss how we fast with our spiritual father. But either way, the point is that the nature of the fast is that it
is not something that I choose for myself. But rather, it is something I willingly submit myself to.
I mean, I know this might not seem like a really big deal, but it kind of is. It actually goes against why we fast in the first place. The purpose of fasting is
to use my body to teach my soul that it's not all about me.
It's not all about doing what I want to do.
Fasting is an attempt to rid my soul of its obsession with itself, of feeling the need
to exercise its will at every moment of every day.
By fasting, I’m actually practicing death to myself, dying to my own desires as I take
an uncomfortable step out of the center of my own life.
This is how I learn to make room for other people, but it takes continual practice!
This is why the Church prescribes a fast twice a week and even offers several extended periods throughout
the year.
You see, the more I practice willingly putting myself aside, willingly being uncomfortable and inconvenienced
the more ready I’ll be to put myself aside and to be inconvenienced and uncomfortable
for someone else’s sake when they need me.
Fasting is a form of asceticism.
The Greek word ascesis means “exercise,” or “training.”
Practice.
It is practicing voluntary death to our own selves so that we can become people who live
for others.
By willingly putting down that burger or that pizza, we actively take up the cross
choosing to become like Christ by taking the first step toward emptying ourselves of ourselves.
The whole point of the Christian life is love for God and love for our neighbor, but we can’t
do either if we are too busy loving ourselves.
And the Church, in her wisdom, helps us take ourselves out of the center of our lives,
simply by saying no to ourselves, and yes, to the Lord
So join the fight. Live Orthodoxy. Remember to like and subscribe. And join the rest of us inside the Trench.