Christ is Risen!  He is Risen indeed!

I had to start that way because I fully meant to write this down during Lent, but then, well, Lent and Holy Week and Easter preparations took over.  For those of you who were actually reading these posts, sorry.  I guess you could say it was a forced fast from writing.  Which is really a lead in to some thoughts on fasting, especially in light of Easter…

Fasting usually means giving something up for a set period of time.  A lot of people fast during Lent, trying to give up chocolate, or pop (soda for you non-Minnesota types), candy, beer or alcohol, or something that is bad for you that you’ve been meaning to cut out of your diet for the sake of your physical health.  But that kind of misses the point, doesn’t it?  While fasting is usually giving up physical things, it is for a spiritual purpose!  It is for the sake of our spiritual health, our relationship with God, not for our waistline!

I did not intend to fast from writing these reflections on faith, other demands on my time and energy took precedence.  And they were all good and important things (mostly), but they were not necessarily the best things or the most important things.  Which is what fasting is all about: giving up, letting go of the merely good and important (or should I say “urgent”), so we can focus our time, energy, and attention on the best, the most important, which is our relationship with God (or better said, God’s relationship with us through Jesus Christ!).

Fasting is a spiritual discipline that is not limited to the season of Lent, which I know will bum many people out.  And it’s not just about fasting from food.  Maybe you need to fast from TV or video games, facebook or email, talking non-stop on your cell phone or texting all of the time.  Maybe you need to cut out some of the activities in your life and the life of your family.  The question is: what keeps you from focusing your attention and spending time with God, to nurture your faith and understanding?  This isn’t a once a year question, it is at the very heart of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.