Fasting: BLOG 2 NF 4/13/17

Fasting 
(Blog 2 NF 4/13/17)

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

(The Mount of Olives)

Lent is the most profound week of the year in my life. It is a time when I reflect on the core values and purpose of my life. Since last year, I have decided to fast during the holy week. Jesus spent 40 days and nights of solitude, prayer, and fasting in the Judean wilderness. Of course, I cannot afford to be away for the entire 40 days of Lent to enter into solitude, prayer and fasting as Jesus did. I have two part-time jobs and an internship, and I am a full-time graduate student, and most importantly, I have a family that I need to take care of. However, I appreciate the concept of fasting. In a way, it is an opportunity for me to break the chain of my life – being free from something I have felt dependent on or even indulged in.  This restriction and the practice of controlling bodily needs help me clarify my thoughts and emotions. I realize so many unnecessary things that I (often meaninglessly) take on– it can be food intake, the unnecessary spending on materialism, the junk that I read, the waste of time, the excessive emotions that are not channeled well, or the worries that quickly occupy my mind. I try to visualize the image of my empty hands and myself without all the worldly measures that have preoccupied me.

For emptying is the first step towards receiving…

I wait and wait

I vow to wait

I stay awake with you as you once asked me

Here I am with my empty hands

Humbly kneel down before your presence

Open my eyes to see what is unseen

Here I am remembering your promise that

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God

NF