Foodie Fasting for Syria

Today is an international day of prayer and fasting for Syria and the  Middle East.  If you can read this blog, and thus do not live completely off-grid, you've known this was coming for days.

I am doing this along with millions of other people grieving for Syria and the atrocities in the Middle East.

I am also thus confronted by my quite comfortable Western-style life.

What my fast today looks like is a green shake for breakfast, same for lunch, and a normal vegetarian dinner.  Everyone's fast looks a little different.  Some opt for one normal meal and two snacks.  Some give up coffee.  Some eat nothing at all for the entire day.  The point is to rid ourselves of the extras, make us uncomfortable, take on a wee bit of "suffering" for the sake of being united with our hurting and broken family.  Yup. Even people across the world are part of our responsibility.

As many hymns sing out, the journey makes us one.

What I did not realize is that my Saturdays actually are rather wrapped around food.  Saturday is when I assess my fridge, write down what I need, head to the grocery store, obtaining not only what a need, but a great many "wants."  Since I have more time on the weekends, this is when I actually take time to cook real meals and be a bit fancy.  I go out to breakfast and/or lunch and/or dinner with friends.

As I left the gym this morning, it occurred to me that simply by taking on a fast today, my entire day looks different.

I will wait until tomorrow to go grocery shopping.

I will not go out to eat, or prep anything fancy.

I won't pop by my favorite bakery to get anything sweet to go with my coffee.

So, I have extra time on my hands as well.  What shall I do?

That's the other side of this equation.  Prayer.

Fasting for its own sake is called dieting.  Fasting as an offering is prayer, but being mindful of this call is essential.  Later in the day it gets harder.  Later in the day it will be easier to call on God for help.

Isn't that ALWAYS when we most often find ourselves calling on God?

And so sometimes I think the great game with fasting is not simply that we are uniting ourselves with our suffering family, but are ourselves drawn to the Almighty, from whom we have distanced ourselves through too much ease and comfort.

Tomorrow, I will lay this sacrifice down because I have that choice.

My hope is that my heart and intention stay properly aligned.