On the discipline of fasting

A number of years ago, the story of Mohandas Ghandi, the Mahatma, was told in film and won much acclaim. What made Ghandi famous and deeply loved by millions was his commitment to the people, and what made a difference for them was that he showed them how to stand up to great power through non-confrontation. In the eyes of the powerful, it seemed as though his actions and those of his followers were meant to provoke anger (for these actions were often rebelious) but in the end, the nonviolence caused the British to shake their heads and perhaps secretly to admire his (and their) commitment and strength.

We live in a land which is blessed with great abundance. We have been made only too well aware of this fact in recent months, and for this we should always be grateful, but when you're in the midst of the forest, it's sometimes hard to see the trees. We do not want for food or shelter. We have some of the largest reserves of fresh water in the world. We have relatively easy access to health care. Most comforts are ours for the taking, but then again that's what makes the discipline of fasting so significant for us, even if we don't show it to the outside world.

The gospel passage from Ash Wednesday cautions us not to flaunt the fact that we may be fasting, for fear that we may already receive our just reward from the hands of others rather than from God. Fasting (in the Christian sense) is not meant to make an impression on an occupying force or on another human being. In fact if we do it for our own good, we're barking up the wrong tree.

There are many ways to fast: from an abundance of food, from a misuse of leisure time, from procrastination ... but the aim of this discipline is that once the clutter of our wastefulness has been removed (even just for the short period of Lent), we become more aware of the needs of others, and choose to respond to these needs out of love. In the biblical language, the prophet Isaiah points out that if fasting leads to anger and quarelling, it's self serving and therefore misdirected. If however it helps us to become aware of injustices that can be righted, or to identify the truly needy in our midst and to do something to change their predicament instead of turning a blind eye, then we've begun to catch the spirit of the law, and that makes all the difference.

In the time of Jesus, fasting was seen as a practice of mourning, but like so many other practices of his day, Jesus changed (or perhaps clarified) our understanding of these things, and helped us to see that they should not be meant for navel gazing, but rather for changing our perception of the world around us.

Go therefore into the world. Fast if you must in order to recognize the needy in our midst, but have the courage to do what you can to change their lives, and to help them to see (as you do) that the Kingdom of God is in our midst and ought to be celebrated.