Fasting

 

So wow, it's been a few months since my last entry and a lot has happened in my life. Firstly, I got a new job as a photographer for a wedding chapel. It's a friend's business and because of my posts on social media, they asked me to apply. So, now I see and photograph weddings, almost every day. Which is pretty cool. Hopefully I can get to a point of mastery with this new challenge. Oh, by the way, the above picture of the perched hummingbird is my first ever capturing one. I have some of it mid flight as well so I may use it in the next post. 

Well, lets dive into it shall we. Current situation, I'm on an extended fast right now. As of writing this I haven't eaten in four days. My goal is at least five, maybe more but I'm leaning towards five. Just don't want to push it too much. Why am I doing this. Mainly to reset my unhealthy habits in eating and lose weight, the other is too seek God more. Of course, learning more makes me realize the self involved aspect, mixed with spiritual truth makes me a mixture which God doesn't like. I should do another fast next month just for Him and not me but I don't know how to separate body from spirit as well as I should. In other words, if I go on another fast just for God, in the back of my mind will always be the physical aspect of the fast.

Let me elaborate on that physical aspect. If you've never fasted for more than a day, then let me bring you along the journey. One, food is more than a fuel to sustain our bodies. It is an entrenched psychological force that subconsciously dictates our daily lives. What do I mean by that. Every social event usually involves planning around food, like birthdays, gatherings, family social interactions, sitting down to watch movies or TV. Think about it on a daily timeline. You wake up and for most, you want something to eat for breakfast. So our day starts out with food. Do we prepare something or pick something up along our commute to work or school? Do we involve those we work with like a box of donuts for the office perhaps. Your day begins with thinking of food choices. After that it's almost an immediate conversation of, what's for lunch. Plans are made at work, school or with friends, restaurants chosen, delivery, packed lunch or other plans but right after breakfast, we talk and make plans for lunch. Snacks in between while we wait is often common too. After work or school, we dive right into the selection of dinner. Home, another eating out with friends or family, how about a BBQ in the back yard or food at a sports event with friends. Our entire day revolves around food pretty much from our first minute awake to our last minute awake each day. It's not only the hungry feeling but it's the pleasure of food, which in my opinion is engineered by food companies, to make us feel happy and tie that happiness to social interactions. Say you go out with friends to a restaurant for someone's special day. You go to celebrate that someone but psychologically, your mind ties food in with that fun time with friends and we grow up from birth attaching food to fun times. It's a double douse of dopamine. 

So our society has coupled food and fun together and that cycle is hard to break. When you fast, you get past the hunger pains as your body adapts from food fuel to fat fuel but what is harder to get over is the trauma of not eating while interacting with daily tasks. For instance, for dinner my wife and I usually sit in the living room and watch TV while we eat. So, like last night, I started to not want to watch TV because of the lack of food. I didn't have the craving to watch TV because it felt somewhat empty without a plate of food in my hands while I watched. It is that symbiotic relationship we have built between food and daily tasks that requires more than just physical preparations. There's two barriers to overcome with fasting. Most think it's the physical but for me it is much harder to overcome the mental issues fasting brings with it. 

In time though the desires for food in both realms fades away and in my opinion, is where the long fast truly begins. When you reach the day when food no longer has a grip on you physically and mentally, then you've reached a new beginning. Some call it moments of clarity. People that meditate try to attain this and many others try but you must remove yourself from the voice that calls to you many time per day. Once we remove ourselves from the addiction of food, we can then focus on other things. It's no different than a drug addict. They use to get away from the hurts in life and food can be used in the same way. We all have a little bit of a food addiction. Some more than others but we all tie food to either a good memory or a bad one and we eat to self medicate. When we fast, our crutch is taken away. It's so much more than just not eating in my experience. which, I have much. This will be my fourth fast over four days in my lifetime. My longest was seven and it was tough. This one seems to be going smoothly so far. 

Should you consult a doctor before you fast, I never have. I just pay attention to my body. If something doesn't feel right, I go back to eating. Now, I've learned of this fatal thing called refeeding syndrome where people fast for long periods then eat too much when they finish and the body goes into a state of stress that can cause death in some cases. That is terrible and must be avoided. I think if you are truly thinking of fasting or this has intrigued you at all, then do the research into the benefits of fasting and the cautions surrounding it as well. The reason I do it, and will probably do it more often is the physical benefits of it. 

Enough about the fast. What about God through this whole thing. Like taking away addictive food patterns, we also must take away addictive spiritual patterns. How? By fasting from any and all outward influences that tell you who, what and how to worship God. There's a buffet of God stuff in our American diet and most is pure junk food. Like our American diet, full of junk, our churches feed us mostly junk. Why would someone build a huge infrastructure, pipe in water from miles away when you have a natural spring in your back yard. Doesn't make sense but that is what we do. Much like our food addictions we are addicted to church and what it brings. It gives us that sense of good in our lives. We see and hear good, we interact with others we enjoy mostly and we leave refreshed. Why do we do this? Our source of living water is in us, so why do we go to the well miles away to draw water from a contaminated source. It makes no sense what so ever. God is within us and longs for a true and faithful relationship with us. However, some or most don't believe they are worthy of God's time. Well that's wrong because His Son paved the way for us to enjoy fellowship with the Father. It was the whole purpose of Jesus, to reconcile us back to God. 

We feed on so much crap from multiple sources now that our understanding of truth is so messed up we can't tell truth from a lie. Much like our food addictions, we are addicted to what tastes good and sounds good rather than what is healthy and right for you. My fast is to reset my addictive behaviors with food. Our fast from outside sources, when it comes to God, should also be turned off. The voices clamoring for you ear need to be shut off so the truth, God's voice, can be heard. Like food, it is tough to shut off all those preconceived ideas of God and how He operates in our lives. It likely will take a lot longer than a food fast but well worth it. I believe Jesus fasted for forty days, and I think it was a reset of sorts. He washed away the other voices so He could listen to just one voice. The devil being the other voice can also be interpreted as the selfish voice and the voice of others and we need to do the same. 

My next fast will probably be shutting all sources of influence off. Which means, social media, radio, preaching, church and anything that can influence my connection with God. That also goes for my own voice. Faith must arise and external and internal influences must be silenced if a deeper relationship is to occur. Paul put it this way, dying to self daily. I must stand aside, outside influences must be pushed aside in order for relationship to flourish. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

To God Be The Glory In All.