Really Fast

Are you getting ready for 40 Days? They start in a week, and I am preparing body, mind, and soul. I had decided that fasting wasn't very much of a sacrifice for me when I read a book in the bookstore the other day about biblical fasting.

It seems the Non-denoms are picking up one more traditionally Catholic expression of piety. Just as Moses, David, and Jesus fasted, so too are non-Catholic Christians. And they take it seriously: nothing but water for 21 days of prayer or even 40 days.

I've done the Fatima fast: nothing but bread on Wednesdays and Fridays. This makes that look weak. I am having a hard time imagining nothing but water until Nov.2, but it sounds like it's been done. Furthermore, the author argues, it's healthy for you. Just as prayer releases toxins from your soul, so too fasting releases toxins from your body. And 40 days of nothing but water (and maybe broth if you need it) will expel toxins.

I'm considering this one carefully. I'm pretty skinny as it is, and the Fatima fasting made me tired and morose; plus there will be many important meals between now and Nov.2, including my birthday. My other option to really make a sacrifice is giving up the Blogosphere for 40 days. I know, I know, I hardly post as it is-- but I read the blogs almost twice a day. Not knowing what's being said about Sarah Palin, not knowing the latest activities of the Pope, not checking up on my peeps: that would be rough.

The Orthodox also put Catholics to shame; for the whole of Lent they eat no dairy, no meat, no sweets. So they majorly prepare for the Second Coming. It's interesting to think of fasting in lieu of the 40Days for Life campaign. We're fasting for an end to abortion. Lenten fasting isn't for an end, or for a major change...or is it?

What will end when Jesus comes?

The non-Catholic Christians collectively smacked their foreheads just now.