The Day After the Fast Before

And so as quickly as it began it has ended. The Daniel Fast, a fast that I thought would defeat me with all of its dietary restrictions, is officially over. And here’s the weird thing - I already miss it. Not in a mediaeval self-flagellating way, but in what it has managed to do to the interior of me way. 

The fast was combined with a modified Divine Office (no, that’s not a place where pay rises are given on a daily, that’s the set hours monks pray, but we reduced ours from the traditional seven), where me and the other three I was doing the fast with would pray, whether we were at work, on public transport or tucked up in bed.  For me the corporate aspect of the fast was very 1^st Century Church, where unity was front and centre of the Christo walk. And even when disagreements came, they didn’t dominate the main objective of us all which was to draw nearer to God.

So would I recommend this fast to people? Absolutely. In these past three weeks, spending more time in devotion, less time wondering what I am going to eat or snack on, more time dwelling on and being thankful of the  random blessings I take for granted , no time at all strung out on caffeine or hung over from the night before has been a divine revelation. It has made me more in touch with my soul, that eternal part of us all, that we sometimes neglect when we preoccupy ourselves with the things of the world. To get to this point, of feeling that this is a pleasure and a privilege rather than a chore of gargantuan proportions,  one’s perspective and approach must change as Jesus puts it below:

“When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.” Matthew 6:16

A lot of the people who have asked me about the fast have questioned whether it was a wish-fulfilment exercise. A case of doing something super-out there to catch God’s attention, or perhaps it was the last roll of the dice of the spiritually desperate.  A sort of plea bargain from the believer which goes along the lines of: ‘Lord I will do this and then in return you will do that’. This impression of fasting has certainly been coloured by ‘name it to claim it’ philosophies in some new churches in recent years. But if we look at fasting in the biblical perspective; it is always done in preparation for something greater.  Daniel fasted and then his visions became super-sized,  Jesus fasted and then his ministry began; we fast and – well that’s the exciting part, we might not know what exactly comes next but we do know we are better prepared for it. As I have said in previous posts, God is not loving the spiritual swots more than others, however, if we want to grow stronger in our spirit, it might be wise to swot up.

  

Beef because there’s no beef to eat? Day 5 of the Daniel Fast

 

All quiet on the fasting front. Well not quite, it has been a hectic few days; apart from the assumption I was on some insane accelerated bikini diet by friends I’ve met up with socially when they’ve seen me decline the vino, say no to cheese and pass on some almost calling out my name such was its aroma chimchirri beef. The actual logistics of the fast have become manageable and I have become a little more organised in the shopping, but that is not the whole story.

As I said in my first fasting related post, I am doing the Daniel Fast corporately.  There are three other women in the mix and as is often the case when different approaches to following the Lord come into play, disagreements can escalate.  Emails have been exchanged and I guess that Solomon would put me and my fellow Christo chick in the dock with this following verse, and plead with us to do less of the first part of the sentence and more of the last:

“The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Proverbs 12:18

In my opinion, the greatest challenge to Christos in the 21^st century is not the militant atheists, the fundamentalists in other faiths, the New Age mystics and the Pagan worshippers. No, the greatest challenge is closer to home, and it is with one another. I have seen many simply amazing people of God marginalised, victimised and sometimes chased out of the church, because they did not fit a particular template. On one level, it is almost darkly comical,  as bible verses are used as grenades for condemnation rather than compassion, and people are sifted as being either ‘true to The Word’ or just ‘mere part-timers’. But here is the thing; we ALL fall woefully short of the gold standard set by Jesus. Whether you are a Christo super=swot , on first name terms with the vicar and running a ministry on the side or the dosser who comes in late, enjoys the singing and occasionally nods off in the sermon, Jesus loves you exactly to the same infinite measure.

So what do we do about the divisions within Team JC?  Firstly, recognise them for what they are which is a distraction and an impediment to us all doing what we are called to do. Rather like the trash telly that delays one from getting on with the important tasks of the day, division stalls us from getting on with the vital work of being part of God’s amazing plan. If God had really wanted a monoculture, he would have created one. Instead he delights in the variety and uniqueness in us all. It is a classic Team Red approach to try and disrupt the work of four awesome women of God (bigging up the others as much as myself here) when they are seeking to deepen their faith on an epic fast. If we’re too busy arguing and nit-picking and pointing fingers, we will miss the blessings, insights, challenges and the joy that comes with fellowship. Heck, we might even miss something super-exciting, such as an Upper Room moment complete with tongues of fire, because we’re pressing the ‘reply all’ button.

I tend not to dwell too much on the Devil, give him the airtime and he will suck all the oxygen and leave you with the not so useful Carbon Dioxide. However, it is interesting to note how he always shows up when something extraordinary is about to happen. Even Jesus himself was tempted in the wilderness when he fasted, and we all know what happened after that – his world changing ministry. During a fast you are physically vulnerable, and with that coupled with the corporate one I am currently on, may come harsh words, irrational thoughts and everything else in between. Yet in the midst of this our communality of purpose must not be forgotten as Paul says in his final letter written before he died.

“I plead with you Euodia and I plead with you Synthyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.”

Philippians 4:2  

The sentence says it all, we all are in the same Lord, of course Euodia and Synthyche were their own women and clearly of note if Paul is name-checking them in his final letter.  Maybe they were friends, maybe they were (LOLZ) fasting together. Paul is pleading with them because he knows what’s at stake: unity, progression and being salt and light in the present generation. I think I may suggest a barbeque for us to break the fast too come late June, that’s one way to kill the beef!

 

On the Fasting Frontline: Day 1 of the Daniel Fast

Last weekend, a very good friend of mine invited me to join her and three others on a fast. I have done the corporate fasting thing before = and with Ascension Day been and gone (it was on the 29 May for those who missed it) and my own birthday (on the 25 May, and yes, I am still accepting gifts) giving me an opportunity to pause and reflect and seeking to go deeper on my spiritual walk,  I accepted. The friend said they were doing the Daniel Fast! Ooh, I thought, I’ve never done that one – bog standard Lenten of eating only once in the evening was tried and tested, subsisting on water alone a la Esther , for three days had also been ticked off; sure I nearly fainted,  and will probably never try it again, but the Daniel one, no. Writing this at the end of Day 1 I can safely tell you that I now know why; it’s a flipping nightmare. And I’ve signed up for 21 days of it. Words fail me.

“I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over” Daniel 10:3

Today, I was pretty much unprepared for the actual fasting; once I had done a cursory look at my fridge I realised that pretty much everything in it was either choice food (bread, dairy, pasta) a meat (Smoked Salmon, assorted cold cuts, a Tupperware of here’s one I made earlier chicken stock) and let’s not even contemplate the various ‘lotions’ on my dressing table, that merit a whole paragraph of their own.  The fridge inspection left me with very little choice and in the end lunch today consisted of grated carrot, red cabbage, lemon and chili flakes, but as seen below Gastrotastic.com styles, plated and consumed outside the beautiful Farm Street Church things weren’t looking too bleak. So far, so expensive detox, with window shopping acting as pudding.  But as the day progressed and I got more and more irritable, as a persistent headache refused to shift other things came into play.

What I soon discovered is how much I have come to rely on those choice foods to get me through the challenges of life. Of course I pray, go to church and do the whole bible study thing on a regular, but if I am honest there are some prayers that I have been sending heavenwards with no seeming response for so long, that the material, in this case the charcuterie counter, have proven to be a more reliable point of comfort. JC isn’t listening but thank God Waitrose is still open. Whilst praying and let me add working towards said breakthroughs, I have been guilty of ‘treating myself’ with assorted goodies from slabs of cake and mountains of pasta to the obligatory I made it through the day wine o’clock tipple. And let’s not even get me started on my number one medication of choice caffeine. Tea and coffee are practically human rights issues for me, and the end seems so far away.

I am aware my first post is low on spirituality, but if anything it has highlighted to me just how dependant I have become on physical succour of the edible variety rather than the more metaphysical.  Daniel himself fasted when he was in an unexpected and not entirely fabulous place but as a result of it the miraculous came to him along with a vision to end all visions. At the risk of sounding slightly sacrilegious this fast better put trust in JC back front and centre rather than my trifecta of meat, booze and caffeine, I am praying for nothing less and a whole lot more.