Right now I don’t care whether Jesus was the Son of God. I don’t care whether he rose from the dead or performed miracles. I don’t know, and I don’t care. I choose to believe, however, based on the historical record and my own beliefs, that there was a man named Jesus who tried to get people to live a new way and was killed for it. Many men and women have also done this with their lives, some emulating Jesus, some who never heard of him, and some for entirely different reasons. I lack the character and conviction to ever be that kind of a man, but I will try this Lent to honor them and remember them. I am not sure if I can even go one day a week without food (my current goal), but by struggling through this comparatively meaningless task I will remember the actions of far better people who have gone before me, some of whom pointed to God, some of whom fought for freedom, and some of whom did both.
As a confession – my actions are equally, if not more so, motivated by a desire for health. As I told the group last night I am a stress and depression eater, and my current life has quite a bit of stress and depression, and consequently quite a bit of junk food. I hope to somewhat break this habit and come out a healthier person. Right now my breakfast ice water tastes quite nice. Perhaps I’ll give an update in the comments.
3 comments:
I'm feeling much less philosophical, but it looks like I'll make it. Head hurts, tired, achy, but in good spirits. I'm impressed with people who can do this for long periods of time (let alone 40 days...). Assuming I can sleep, I am really looking forward to some oatmeal in the morning.
Nick, what are the parameters of your fast? Are you trying to do water only? Based on your 9:30 pm post I assume you made it. Well done!
I did a water only fast for the day - actually about 36 hours between eating. I felt like I could have kept going this morning but I thought I should eat. My plan is to do a one day fast each week of lent and then a longer fast during Holy Week. That plan might change, though. The original idea wasn't really because of spirituality, but I did end up thinking about God and praying more yesterday than normal.
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