Lent Advice From the John the Dwarf

We all have demons that, like any uninvited guest, take up too much of our time. In an effort to lessen the effect our own demons have on us we turn to the activity of talking about how much more awful the demons of others are.

"I may drink myself dumb, but I am not doing anything illegal."

"I may yell at my spouse, but I am not hitting them."

"I may engage in observing pornography, but I am not cheating on my spouse."

"I may gossip, but it is only to my close friends" 

"I am not perfect, but I am better than that person(s)."

Whatever the demons are we all can choose to live with them or work to defeat them. If you are looking to defeat a demon in your life, expose your false self, adknowledge where you are not doing so well, etc. then consider the advice from John the Dwarf:

“If a king wanted to take possession of his enemy’s city, he would begin by cutting off the water and the food, so his enemies, dying of hunger, would submit to him. It is the same with the passions of the flesh: If a person goes about fasting and hungry, the enemies of his soul grow weak.”

Fasting with a feasting attitude

Recently I was in a small lectio group that explored a short passage in Luke 5. In the course of the conversation it came up that often we put fasting and feasting on opposite ends of a spectrum. After further reflection we pondered if this is a false dichotomy. We wondered if fasting and feasting are just two postures of the same coin. 

If we look at fasting as a posture and not just an activity of abstaining from food, then the posture of fasting is one of somberness, seriousness and reverence. Likewise, if feasting was a posture it might be the posture of joyfulness, celebration, and lightheartedness. 

There are times that we need to take the posture of fasting and there are other times where the posture of feasting is called for. In our churches it seems like there are very strong pressures on people to conform to a specific posture to the detriment of the other posture. 

For instance, there is a strong posture of fasting when it comes to communion. This sacrament is seen as a very serious thing. There is no joking around. Those who are laughing or running or being even the slightest bit silly are out of line. The posture of fasting is appropriate for communion but it is not the only appropriate posture for communion. 

The posture of feasting is also appropriate at communion. Some churches call the minister the "celebrant" (see this post about presiding vs. celebrating) . We talk about the "feast at the Lord's table". We should take joy in the forgiveness and reconciliation that comes at the table of the the Lord. The posture of feasting is also appropriate for communion, but it is often a posture that is not embraced by the whole (just read some of the comments in this post). 

Could it be that we have the capacity to embody both postures at the same time? Could we be serious and at the same time recognize the joy of in situation? Can we be celebratory and reverent at the same time? Can we fast with a feasting attitude and could we feast with a fasting attitude? 

Or is it just one or the other? 

How our reluctance to fast from food exposes our addiction

Every Lent comes around and the conversation in Christian circles that observe Lent talk about fasting. Specifically about what we are "giving up for Lent". There there are others who talk about not giving up something for Lent but taking something additional on (such as a prayer practice). The thing I have noticed in the conversations about fasting that I have been involved in is the there is an overwhelming resistance to fast from food. 

“Concerning Abba Arsenios, Abba Daniel told us that ‘the Elder stayed with us for so many year, and we would give him only one basket of wheat for the entire year; we, too, ate from it when we went to his cell.’”

I am not saying that we all should fast from food like the desert fathers or that fasting from other things (such as Facebook or television) are not worthy disciplines. What I am saying is that perhaps our resistance to give up food for a period of time exposes for us that we are addicted to food. 

The life of the Christian is one that is disciplined. Yes, we (I) mess up and fail at fulfilling the discipline. But the disciplined life teaches us how to Love. Fasting is a critical discipline toward learning how to Love. Can you imagine a doctor learning how to heal people without a stethoscope? Or a judge learning how to administer justice without deliberation? Fasting, specifically fasting from food, breaks our addition to food and leads us to love more fully. 

Christians do things that Jesus did and commands us to do. We pray, we wash feet, we baptize, we teach, we love, we share, but for some reason we in the USA are not big on fasting from food - even though Jesus did this and expected it of his disciples. 

Perhaps the great irony is that today many American Christians have an abundance of food and yet we are still unable, unwilling or uninterested in fasting from food. Is it not a sign of addition that even if you have an abundance you still cannot get enough?

So may we all prayerfully consider the ancient practice of fasting from food for a period of time. Pray. Rejoice. Give thanks and may we learn to Love as Christ Loves.