\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nThis is turning out to be a good day, even a good month to reflect on Ramadan for me as a Christian.\u00a0 In addition to being a month of fasting from dawn until dusk, Ramadan is also a time when Muslims are to turn their attention from worldly affairs to improvement of themselves, deepening their spiritual lives and seeking enlightenment. The stock market has fallen about 1,500 points since the beginning of Ramadan, so \u201cturning away\u201d is an excellent idea.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t entirely \u201cgallows humor\u201d on my part. The point of Ramadan is not to ignore the world, but to place it in its rightful context.\u00a0 You are not to let worldly affairs dominate your life to the neglect of a relationship with God, with your family, and with those in need.<\/p>\n
As I resist the urge to check on my retirement investments yet one more time today, I realize that my anxiety is a symptom of\u00a0 \u201cworldly\u201d domination of my life and I need to free myself from it.\u00a0 I am not my stock portfolio.\u00a0 Well, not any more\u2026<\/p>\n
Another good point of reflection on Ramadan for me as a Christian is that Islamic fasting is not meant to be a denial of the self, as it has often been practiced in Christianity, but a way to discipline the body, mind and spirit to turn from the world to God.\u00a0 It also builds a real empathy for those for whom hunger is not a spiritual practice, but the result of poverty.\u00a0 It encourages generosity in Muslims.\u00a0 All of these values are surely needed by an American society addicted to war, debt and tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of the neediest among us.<\/p>\n
Still, fasting does not have a good connotation among progressive Christians such as myself because it has so often been practiced as part of asceticism and accompanied by theologies that denigrate the body and sexuality, and by extension, women\u2019s bodies. The Church called fasting \u201cmortifying the flesh,\u201d a term derived from the Latin\u00a0motificar,<\/em> meaning to kill.\u00a0 Some of the extreme ascetic practices did result in death, but that was not meant to be the goal.<\/p>\nThe kind of fast practiced in Ramadan appeals to me, therefore, because it is not so harsh as to \u201cmortify\u201d the flesh. Abstaining for approximately half of a day, while difficult, is not impossible, and celebration meals (Iftar) upon breaking the fast lend an air of hospitality and the holiday food connection that to me evokes a combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas as big food holidays.<\/p>\n
I wish I had fasted today and had an Iftar dinner to look forward to with family and friends this evening.\u00a0 I\u2019d like to take my mind off of that other thing that I am no longer focusing on because I\u2019m turning away from the world, right?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A good day for a Christian to reflect on Ramadan Rev. Susan Thistlethwaite,\u00a0An ordained minister of the United Church of Christ This is turning out to be a good day, even a good month to reflect on Ramadan for me as a Christian.\u00a0 In addition to being a month of fasting from dawn until dusk, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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