"Our Lenten abstinence does not imply a rejection of God's creation. But, living as we do in a fallen world and suffering as we do from the consequences of sin, both original and personal, are not pure; and so we have need of fasting. Evil resides not in created things as such but in our attitude toward them, that is, in our will. The purpose of fasting, then, is not to repudiate the divine creation but to cleanse our will. During the fast we deny our bodily impulses -- for example, our spontaneous appetite for food and drink -- not because these impulses are in themselves evil, but because they have been disordered by sin and require to be purified through self-discipline. In this way, asceticism is not a fight against but for the body; the aim of fasting is to purge the body from alien defilement and to render it spiritual. By rejecting what is sinful in our will, we do not destroy the God-created body but restore it to its true balance and freedom. In Father Sergei Bulgakov's phrase, we kill the flesh in order to acquire a body . . .
Ascetic self-discipline, then, signifies a rejection of the world, only in so far as it is corrupted by the fall; of the body, only in so far as it is dominated by sinful passions. Lust excludes love: so long as we lust after other persons or other things, we cannot truly love them. By delivering us from lust, the fast renders us capable of genuine love. No longer ruled by the selfish desire to grasp and exploit, we begin to see the world with the eyes of Adam in Paradise. Our self-denial is the path that leads to self-affirmation; it is our means of entry into the cosmic liturgy whereby all things visible and invisible ascribe glory to their Creator."
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, "The True Nature of Fasting," The Lenten Triodion.
2 comments:
I've been thinking about fasting lately because it wasn't part of my tradition growing up, so I don't fully get the idea. My understanding takes some slightly different angles of humility. Maybe Father Kallistos just has a prettier way of writing. To me Fasting is an act of submission before God who alone can reorder what is disordered in us by sin. Fasting is an offering of something that otherwise gives us some semblance of control and dignity. If I go without food, I don't become holy or sublimated-I become a holy-terror. I get grumpy, weepy, and anything but stoic. It's a temptation for me to fast to prove to God that I can be strong enough to go without food for Him. This attitude lands me trying let Him know that the spiritual discipline of dragging our gurgling bellies through the dirtiest part of humanity is a stupid, cheap trick for puffing Him up. It seems that this method has nothing to do with what God wants. Instead, I pray that if I fast, it is so that I might be able to come crawling to Him for help while being open about my utter, cranky weakness. He already knows these weakness and doesn't require fasting to feel better about Himself, so I guess that fasting serves as a reminder to me so that I can be more successful in giving Him what He does want-reconciliation and communion with us which can only be achieved through a humble and grateful heart. Fasting is only worthwhile if motivated by a love for God and a desire to enter into a completely open relationship with Him-one that doesn't hide our naked weaknesses behind fern fronds. He wants us, grumpy tantrums and all.
That one guy i'm going to marry said that fasting helps him to understand to a deeper extent the love the Christ has for us--through fasting, we can empathize and finally appreciate what our Lord has suffered and done for us, and as Father Kallistos suggests, catch a glimpse of how God loves to work through, sanctify, and glorify the human condition-pain, fasting, ecstasy, and all.
Blah blah blah. Are you still hungry? I still am sad I missed you guys when I was around. You're always welcome if you happen to swing through SE Asia.
We were just in SE Asia last week. Noooooooooooo! Just kidding. We're bummed we missed you, too :S
Let me say first off, I agree with you. Anything, including spiritual disciplines (fasting, prayer, charity) intended to bring us closer to God, can be done with incorrect attitudes which end up causing the discipline to be to our detriment. That doesn't mean we don't fast, pray or give to the poor, it just means we should be sure we are doing so for the right reasons and motivations, i.e., love and humility.
Part of the reason we fast has to do with our understanding of the human person, which is comprised of both soul and body. If the problem is our fallen nature, we believe the solution is repentance. Because we are comprised of both soul and body and both are fallen, our repentance should involve both. Fasting then is not a purely academic or intellectual exercise (thinking, saying and "believing" the right things), but is one that involves the entire human person.
In addition, as you say, we are continually reminded of our weakness and dependance upon God. And as that one guy you are marrying says (wait, what? Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), in a mystical way we slowly begin to see the world with a different lens.
All this talk of fasting is making me hungry again!
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