Fasting for Advent
Advent is supposed to be a time of fasting, like Lent with snow. I don’t normally observe it as such. I normally observe it as the opposite of a fast - Let’s see how much Christmas Cake I can put away today!
I want this year to be different. My body, mind and spirit seem to be telling me that I could do with a wintry fast. So here’s what I have in mind.
TIMING: This is tricky. One has to account for all the parties going on in the week leading up to Christmas. So I will begin the Advent fast one week early, on the Monday following Christ the King, 23 November and end a week early on Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete means Joy which seems appropriate).
TECHNOLOGY FAST: This has to come first for me. I am way too dependent on technology. The word “addict” may be too strong, but not by much. So I want to unplug. Well, not completely. I will pare down my Google reader to only a very few (two or three? down from about 80 now) blogs. I’ll choose only those that I find truly spiritually helpful. I’ll look in to the BHT and Twitter for about 15-20 minutes daily before my day starts (use a timer and be ruthless). This is the type of thing I also do for Lent.
DIETARY FAST: As much as possible I want to eliminate carbs. As completely as possible. I LOVE rice and pasta but for those 4 weeks bread, pasta, white foods will be out. Major on fish and vegetables. I love Coke and drink lots of it. Not for those 4 weeks. I’ll drink water and tea. I eat chocolate every day. Not for those 4 weeks. It will make the Christmas chocolate all the sweeter! BTW, I want to do all this without disrupting the kitchen routine in our home. I’ll just have to pass on the bread basket :-)
READING: When you take something away you have to put something in to fill the gap. I like to read something meaningful that I wouldn’t normally read. I haven’t decided what that might be yet but I’m leaning toward Milton’s Paradise Lost.
WHY? Several reasons. 1) I’m not feeling particularly good right now and I know that going low-carb fixes that real quick. 2) I spend too much time at a computer and cutting that out for a while will be helpful. 3) It may be a way to enter into the spirit of Advent, to feel the longing that God’s people of old had for their deliverer to come.
1 week ago
