Fast Food

So I was told by an authority not to fast last week. So I didn't fast. But there was a catch. I was told not to fast in order to prep for a forced fast on Sunday after the Christmas Party. You see, a couple doctors and my wife looked at some weird symptoms I had been manifesting and came to two conclusions. # 1 - My lung is jacked up from pneumonia and is causing abdominal pain. # 2 - My lower intestine has a tumor and is causing pain. Since they couldn't rule out either one they needed to intervene in the more serious threat which was the risk of cancer. So, I couldn't fast last week because of concern for the intestines and then, I had to fast on Sunday as a prep for a colonoscopy (Medieval God Forsaken Medical Procedure :)).
The reading and the not fasting and then subsequent 36 hour fast lead me to a question that we have in the ultra packet -- "What is the meaning that drives your life?"

Steve, what is the meaning that drives your fast? - Answer: To trust a surgeon who is seeking to eliminate the risk of cancer. I gave my life over to a surgeon who wanted me save me from a prison of disease and deliver me to new life.

At this point, if you read, Pearl's post, our experiences on two very different paths lead to the same epiphany. I think we both are acknowledging that we need a savior. The savior is the truth. The truth fills all circumstances with meaning. Thus, Pearl, concludes with “you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
The meaning behind my fast was “I need a savior from cancer.” I think the meaning behind every fast and every circumstance in anyone’s existence is “I need a savior period.” I think it was GK Chesterson who once said (I paraphrase) “everything that’s anything is Jesus.”

As I sit here I can think of so many fasts that push me to greater trust and deeper intimacy with Christ:
A fast from fear.
A fast from self-possession.
A fast from pride.
A fast from winning.
A fast from recognition.
God help me to fast from those things that trap me in the cancerous, insane prison of “me” and deliver me to self-giving, sacrificial, eternal love for all persons at all costs. Please allow the food of the fast to deepen a hunger for your will and words of love - "you are my beloved."

Finally I felt convicted to have eyes of compassion for those around me who are fasting (experiencing loss.) Some fasts that came to mind are – fast from emotional support - abandonment/death of a loved one. Fast from employment. Fast from contentment. Fast from sleep. Fast from health.

Most of these fasts are fasts that I see in some of the folks in this blog. I am praying for the unique gospel that Christ is writing in and through your fast.