What is Fasting? Is It Important?

We had a discussion recently about this Lenten season. One of the traditional characteristics of the season is that some people choose to fast in some form or another. Fasting is something I personally have done in various seasons of my life. I usually choose to fast from something edible or drinkable that I enjoy eating or drinking. When I miss that thing, when I must do without that thing, I am reminded of those things my Lord gave up for me.

Last year, after my hospitalization, fasting was rather pointless. Nothing tasted right. I could drink and eat anything I wanted and I really didn’t want it. I was thankful for life and very much aware of the nearness of God.

This year, we’ve been so busy with other things that the Lenten season began without me really taking much notice. I’m just not too sure I have a lot of heartburn over it either.

There is a pilgrimage that is made in Europe. It is typically a Catholic pilgrimage but some of our colleagues have talked about making it as a manner of sharing life with people, spending time with people and having a platform from which to discuss spiritual things. This year one of the local TV stations has had a “roving reporter” sort of thing and a young man has been hiking from Belgium to Compostela, Spain. It has been interesting to watch his weekly reports.

The reporter recently encountered a Dominican monk who originally spoke to him in Spanish. The monk sounded so much like my nephew, Jake, that I knew his Spanish was American Spanish! He is 72. After being a “Beatnik”, he studied the Bible and decided to become a Dominican monk. He works now in southern California among the Mexican refugees.

As the young Belgian interviewed this American Dominican, the monk told of the three vows that Dominicans take: poverty, celibacy and obedience. He said that by far obedience was the hardest.

That brought our discussion back to the idea of fasting. It’s not the giving up but rather the doing that is sometimes the harder thing. We need to re-focus. Set our eyes on the goal that God has set before us. Not what we think He wants us to leave behind but what He wants us to achieve.

The Saddest Funeral

We’re back from the “farewell ceremony” for the father of a friend. Since cremation was involved, the ceremony was held in a facility affiliated with the crematorium. Someone who as a profession does these ceremonies, spoke at this one. I cried. Yeah, I know, Lucy crying is nothing new.

I do genuinely grieve the loss of this man. He was a sweet, funny curmudgeon of a man. This family will need some time to adjust to him no longer being part of their day to day lives. He was married over 50 years — you can understand why his wife will miss him. My friend lives in an apartment in her parents’ home so she also will miss him.

For me, this ceremony was extremely sad. I’m used to the joy of ceremonies when believers go home. That joy was missing. I was used to sadness being mixed with the hope of seeing our loved one again. That hope was missing. There was talk of “living on in your thoughts” but no talk of eternal life.

I cried. I realize that I have grown to love this family and they just don’t “get it”. They don’t have a clue what they are missing. There are not just senior adults in this family, people who have lived their lives without God and who are clueless that His heart is broken over them but there are young adults in this family. These are young adults who missed growing up being told “Yes! Jesus loves you.” The whole family is unaware, blind, deaf, clueless that yes, Jesus does indeed love them.

Oh, God break their hearts and open their eyes. The enemy has them bound and unaware that You have won this war.

Need a push?

The trams are “onderbroken”. The number 1 tram and the number 4 tram are supposed to run through the middle of town on the Korenmarkt. For now and until the spring, the Korenmarkt is torn up and being reworked. The little house that sold tickets and had a breakroom for drivers got torn down this week. There is a big stink about removing the cobblestones and replacing them with something artificial. Just at this moment there is more dust that cobblestone and every dry wind raises a cloud of dust. Going into town is an adventure that requires calculating where to walk and how much longer will the trip take since more of it has to be done on foot.

We left for the Friday Market this morning. We took the tram to the Duivelsteen Castle — where it has to reverse direction since it can go no further. We planned to walk the rest of the distance into town. Friday Market is both a place and an event. Most days, there are restaurants and stores that exist with the address of Friday Market and sell their various “goods” to all who visit. On Friday’s, there are extra vendors who come in and set up shop in the middle of the plaza that these others encircle. When these extra folks are here, you can buy cheap clothes, fresher fish, horse meat, cheap tablecloths and towels, and our favorite, apples and pears that come from Belgium. The vegetable/fruit vendor sells other fruits and vegetables as well. Some of his produce comes from Italy or Spain or France. In season, he has field crates of Belgian pears and apples that he sells by the kilo. I recently made apple butter with some of his apples.

The joy of the Lord is my strength.

The joy of the Lord is my strength.

Is it? If so, how does that happen . . . “the joy of the Lord” I mean? How do we receive Joy from the Lord? Do we receive it through the indwelling of His spirit in us? The Bible says that joy is a fruit of the Spirit. If I have the Spirit living in me, I have joy, right? If I have joy, I have strength, right? Does my weakness testify that God is a liar or that I “don’t know [my own] strength”?

It is interesting to read and reread Paul’s dissertation on this in Romans. ‘We wait with patience’, ‘The Spirit helps in our weakness’ … such as that. Today in Hebrews, I noted some confusion on my part. Hebrews 11:5 speaks of Enoch “having pleased God”. I was reading in Dutch so the wording is a little different. It says literally that Enoch “was known as someone in whom God found joy”.

Joy? Hmmm. It goes on to say that “without faith/belief it is impossible to give God joy”. Same word again. Joy. So from there my mind went to thinking, “the joy of the Lord is my strength”. Does that mean the joy God gives me or the joy I give God? I don’t read Hebrew, the language. I don’t even pretend to on TV. The folks who have studied Hebrews translate the verse in Nehemiah as saying that the joy that comes from the Lord is my strength.

So my strength comes from the joy that God gives me. It comes from the Spirit dwelling in me and making me” joy-full”. My strength doesn’t come from making God joyful. It doesn’t come from living in faith/belief. It doesn’t come from living life knowing that, as one corny person put it, “When God is all you have, God is all you need”.

Or does it? I don’t read Hebrew. I just trust that the folks who did the translating got all those subjects, direct objects and indirect objects in the right place. What if they’re wrong?

Just thinking . . .

Need a Push?

The trams are “onderbroken”. The number 1 tram and the number 4 tram are supposed to run through the middle of town on the Korenmarkt. For now and until the spring, the Korenmarkt is torn up and being reworked. The little house that sold tickets and had a breakroom for drivers got torn down this week. There is a big stink about removing the cobblestones and replacing them with something artificial. Just at this moment there is more dust that cobblestone and every dry wind raises a cloud of dust. Going into town is an adventure that requires calculating where to walk and how much longer will the trip take since more of it has to be done on foot.

We left for the Friday Market this morning. We took the tram to the Duivelsteen Castle — where it has to reverse direction since it can go no further. We planned to walk the rest of the distance into town. Friday Market is both a place and an event. Most days, there are restaurants and stores that exist with the address of Friday Market and sell their various “goods” to all who visit. On Friday’s, there are extra vendors who come in and set up shop in the middle of the plaza that these others encircle. When these extra folks are here, you can buy cheap clothes, fresher fish, horse meat, cheap tablecloths and towels, and our favorite, apples and pears that come from Belgium. The vegetable/fruit vendor sells other fruits and vegetables as well. Some of his produce comes from Italy or Spain or France. In season, he has field crates of Belgian pears and apples that he sells by the kilo. I recently made apple butter with some of his apples.

We went to the market early. We took the tram as far as we could and walked the rest of the way. John asked for 5 kilos of pears and apples mixed. I got a head of cauliflower and five figs. John put the heavy stuff in his backpack. I carried the figs. We stopped on the way back and had coffee/tea/chocolate croissants. Then we headed for the castle to take the tram.

When we arrived, there were not one but three trams waiting. We joked with the drivers about whether they were having a “strike”. One driver told us that it would probably be quicker for us to walk to the station. He said that the first tram was broken. Lucy asked if we needed to push it for him. John told him to just pull forward and then off to the right.

I’m enjoying being able to joke with locals. We all experience the little challenges of day to day life. It’s fun to be able to laugh and go on.