Interlude: Fasting
8-2-10
This is based on a journal entry from 7-1-10. This is pretty much as it was written.
Matthew 9:14 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?Matthew 9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.
Having observed my regular practice of fasting, my daughter said to me one day, "We fast because the bridegroom has been taken away." [1]Power, anointing, subduing the flesh. Favour, help. These days I've decided that it is also a matter of self-preservation as well--keeping my enemies at bay and sacrificing unto God. Keeping me from overcharging my heart with surfeiting. I don't have to always be full with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That is an uncomfortable position for me. I don't need my belly bursting with food. At no time do I need this. My daughter read that wild horses stay half full so that they can run at anytime. I am not advocating that people stay half full, but for me--since 2001--I don't need as much food. I need to be clear and not minding the flesh.
Early on, in trying to heed the scriptures I began fasting experiments. If you make a vow unto God--pay it. It is better not to vow than to vow and not pay (Eccl 5). I know this from personal experience. I warn you, do not do it.
Fasting has been operative in my life for many years and I am completely confident that God has honoured my small sacrifices. He has helped and shown me many things I knew not. In these days of troubles and abominations, fasting has become a matter of self-preservation. I need my mind, body, and spirit clear. The bridegroom is gone and I am down here in the midst of a government gone mad under the power of the devil. I need help, high-level help to get out of this calamity. Man cannot get me there and I cannot be clear to read, pray, think, or understand if I am preoccupied with food.
I fed myself food I grew or foraged for a week. That rough food in no way called to the flesh (the mulberries were good and the Yukon Gold potatoes were good for a while) and by the end of the week, I hardly ate at all. Tough times are coming (are here) and we may as well begin to wean ourselves and our children off of the rich foods we've grown accustomed to. (We can incorporate some of the rough, nutritious food into our diets like wild edibles.) In the best of times, faring sumptuously is dangerous. (The Bible has much to say about this, e.g., Prov 23:2, Luke 21:34, Heb 13:9. Ending a fast with sumptuous food can work concupisence, be careful. One Webster's 1828 entry says that some of our fathers ended their fasts with bitter herbs.) I read that into the 1900s, there were still some children who took a pocket full of grains to school for lunch. Food does not have to be rich or taste delicious to meet our needs. Decrease the sweets, drink (more) water.
[1] For the record, she was not fasting with me. She was no more than six years old at that time. Her comment was on what she perceived to be the normative Christian life.