I once had a professor who shared that when he fasted, he excused himself from the dinner table and that deeply bothered me. In my home, dinner time was sacred - in fact, sometimes those few minutes were the only ones that we got to spend together throughout the week.
But then I realized that I was taking my particular view of fasting, and my view of the world, and was laying it on top of the story my professor was sharing. What he was trying to say was 1.) that just because he was fasting didn't mean that his family was engaged in the practice as well and 2.) he felt the need to spend that time in prayer.
It wasn't until several years later that I heard of the practice of communal fasting. For years, I carried around the image of my professor excusing himself from the dinner table as the right and proper way to fast - but really there are so many ways to fast. Some people fast from food alone. Others fast together. Still others fast from other things in their lives like TV or electronics or music.
I have come to realize that there is no right or correct way to fast. Rather, we need to find what form of fasting works for us to deeply connect us to the heat of God and puts our attention on God through prayer.
What images of fasting are you carrying around and are they inviting you into the practice of fasting?
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