People have fasted for spiritual reasons since the dawn of mankind. Many people of the Old Testament practiced fasting; the New Testament, while not directly requiring Christians to fast, seems to assume they will. And I'm sure fasting has never been easy. If it were easy, it wouldn't be a Spiritual Disciple.
But I think those who attempt to fast in today's world ... with fast food joints on every corner and TV saturated with food and restaurant commercials ... face a much tougher time to stick to their fast.
Temptation surrounds us. The people of the Bible didn't have a McDonald's on the road to Damascus. The smell of Chinese food didn't waft through the air in any shopping center food courts then. They didn't have to sit through pizza and beer commercials. In this day and age, we must really want to fast and really want to avoid temptation when we try this Spiritual Disciple.
When we succeed, when we abstain for food for the time period we've set for ourselves, I think we are doubly blessed. We learn not to tune into the TV and not to turn into the drive-thru. The time we devote to prayer and meditation means less time not only preparing and eating meals but less time watching TV or surfing the net.
Tomorrow we'll look at these other time-grabbers. Perhaps it is not food that consumes us but other addictive behaviors. There is more than one way to fast. But whichever method or type of fast we choose, our past track record of indulgence plus the multiple pathways of temptation, just seem to make fasting harder every day.
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