Ugh! I feel lousy.
I've been looking forward to participating in the monthly fast today. Not the going without food part -- my doctors have forbidden that -- but the opportunity to turn my attention away from the usual day to day distractions and towards things that require ...
I have been greatly blessed by the principle of fasting. I have been blessed with insight, with light and knowledge, with healing. I have been blessed to see change in the lives of loved ones who were making self-destructive choices following intense prayer accompanied by fasting.
Just as tithing has little to do with money, fasting has little to do with food. This is not the first time I've been prohibited from going without food during the fast; I was under the same restriction right after my baptism. At that time I felt bereft; I had had such great experiences during my investigation of the church.
As I pondered the principle, several things came to mind. In the scriptures the word "fasting" occurs, almost exclusively, with the word "prayer." The monthly fast should be a time of prayer, intense, focused prayer. The fast is a time of voluntary withdrawal from the ordinary cares and concerns of life in order to devote one's attention to sacred things. The fast should be a time of study, of learning, of teaching. The offerings collected following the fast are for the benefit of those unable to provide for themselves; the fast is a particularly appropriate time to give attention to family history, to providing for others whose needs no longer concern food and shelter.
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And my spirit is willing by my flesh is weak. I started writing this because I'm sick, and I'm surprised by it, and disappointed, as I see my plans and expectations for a time of peace and rest, focused on spiritual things, turning into time of rest, fluids and decongestant.
I want to come back and finish this, but I can't do it right now.
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