slow fast

What’s the benefit of fasting? The temptation is to fast from food (there are other kinds of fasts, but that’s the traditional one) for purely physical reasons: to lose a little weight or to purge the body. I’m fasting for 24 hours one day a week for Lent, and it’s nice to have those physical benefits, but what I really want is a way to remind myself of what Jesus went through for the sake of his mission. He took on the limitations and irritations of a physical body, giving up the privileges and glories of his pre-incarnate experience. Giving up food for a little while is a small way of identifying with him.

But I’ve found that fasting does something else: it slows me down. Maybe it’s the lack of caloric intake that gives me a little less energy (probably not, though: I have plenty of reserve energy jiggling on me in embarrassing places). But my mind has one less thing to occupy it. I don’t have to worry about preparing food or getting to a lunch date. I’m surprised how many times during the day I find myself thinking about food (maybe more so when my stomach is grumbling about the lack of attention). It’s become a prompt to stop and remember that I’m fasting and why. As a result, I have a little more space in my day, time for pondering or praying or just slowing down. I take in a deep breath, not in preparation to gobble down a bite of food, but so I can slowly exhale. I’m actually more in tune with my physical world by not eating, at least once in a while.

So if you're having trouble slowing down to pray, try fasting.