Fasting

The thorn in my side goes by the name of gluttony. If it can be overdone, I can do it. Food, books, ... I even think of my thirst for skills as a form of gluttony. As a brand new Christian, I was intrigued when I heard about fasting. And after hearing Chuck Swindoll do a series on Esther, I started to notice how often fasting went hand in hand with prayer in the Bible.

At Shelfari, in the Spiritual Formation Group, we are discussing fasting in Chapter 4 of Spirit of the Disciplines. I may have come across Foster's Spirit of the Disciplines when I was searching for fasting in the public library. (My fellow Southern Baptists wouldn't have recommended anything unless it was published by Lifeway!)Now 12 years later, I'm diabetic and don't fast from food completely. But yesterday I started a 10 day Daniel fast and that seems like it may be a good way for me to go.

Yesterday morning I had a strange experience in church. A lady I like to sit with had just recently come out of the hospital. She had been prescribed steroids and was commenting about how much she had been eating and how even her grandchildren were making comments. She has never been one to do good things about her health - she makes me look like a health nut, which is hard to do. (I fear and pray for her health.) During the entire service on this morning she ate an entire bag of pork rinds and a large box of good'n'plenties. I was aghast and speechless (which is unusual for me) Last week I'd read PistolPete's blog entry about public gluttony compared with private sexual behavior and that's all I could think about. She offered me some of her stash and I turned it down ... if I hadn't been fasting from meat products and sweets, I might have had some.