[Dialogue] FASTING

[Elliestock@aol.com]

David--

Off the top of my head...

There used to be some Order materials re this but can't locate them at the 
moment.  Fasting is an exercise/practice/spiritual discipline and symbol on 
several levels:  detachment, focus on what is essential--intensification of 
awareness/consciousness, identification with the poor.  In the Order, we usually 
fasted "over" and "about" something--so there was intentionality and focus and an 
"on behalfness" to the fast.  It was the journey inward.  But it was always 
partnered with the Feast (breaking the fast)--the journey outward, the return 
to engagement, the celebration of our connectedness with all life on behalf of 
all life.  We used to do these corporately in the Order and in our local 
church for three days: starting with a feast of beginnings, meeting together for 
broth meals, journaling, sharing our experiences and then having a great feast 
and celebration to conclude the fast.

There are different kinds of fasts:  fasting from a meal, all food but not 
water, liquid or clear broth fast, etc. But there are other kinds of fasts as 
well--fasting from those things that block our vision or engagement or 
connectedness to life.  We have a litany we use during Lent re this--I can send it 
later.

Richard Foster in his book The Celebration of Discipline has a good chapter 
on fasting.  

Gandhi fasted.  He also went on hunger strikes--the two are different.

FYI--many in our denomination, including me, participated in a weekly day of 
fasting during the first Iraq war.  I started this again on Wednesdays at the 
onset of the 2nd Iraq war--on behalf of efforts of non-violent resolutions to 
global issues; and also on behalf of the earth's present ecological crisis, 
particularly on behalf of children of La Oroya, Peru where almost 100% of them 
are lead-poisoned.

If you are interested in fasting for health reasons, other resources such as 
Herbert M. Shelton's Fasting Can Save Your Life (also a video by Terry Porter) 
and other resources distributed through the National Health Association (P.O. 
Box 30630, Tampa, FL  33630, (813) 855-6607.  They publish a quarterly 
magazine called Health Science:  info at healthscience.org  This is a different kind of 
fasting for different reasons.

Ellie Stock