{"id":1512,"date":"2011-08-01T07:28:52","date_gmt":"2011-08-01T14:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richarddahlstrom.com\/?p=1512"},"modified":"2011-08-01T07:28:52","modified_gmt":"2011-08-01T14:28:52","slug":"fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/01\/fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting\/","title":{"rendered":"Fasting: The foundation of a life of Feasting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u201cI like food too much to not fast\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

David Steindl-Rast, in his \u201cA Listening Heart\u201d,<\/a> writes about what he calls sensuous asceticism. \u00a0He\u2019s trying to find that space between the over-indulgences of our culture, where food, sex, shopping, social networking, music, movies, television, web surfing, clothing, drugs, and alcohol are just some of the many appetites that, at their worst, rise up and become masters in our lives, and the vilifying of appetites that so often occurs among Christans. \u00a0The results of heedless indulgence of the appetites are devastating, leaving human trafficking victims, disease, addiction, and brokenness in their wake. \u00a0And the lesser affects, though subtle, are bad news too. \u00a0Vilifying the senses makes our faith joyless, painful and boring. \u00a0The ground between these extremes is found by fasting.<\/p>\n

The elevation of appetites creates a world where \u201con demand\u201d is the norm, where satisfaction comes from listening to the demands of our longings and seeking to quiet them through satiation. \u00a0So, as Dave Mathhews<\/a> says: \u201cI eat too much \u2013 I drink too much \u2013 I want too much \u2013 too much.\u201d <\/em> Obsession. \u00a0Addiction. \u00a0A restlessness that won\u2019t be satisfied until we \u201chave it\u201d; there might be technical differences between these terms but however you slice it, life is emptier when the appetites are in the driver\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n

But what can displace our appetites and take control of our soul? \u00a0Galatians 5:16 \u201cWalk by the spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.\u201d <\/em> The desires of the flesh don\u2019t refer to appetites per se, but to their unbridled demanding nature when they govern all of life. \u00a0\u201cJust one more\u201d say the senses: \u00a0\u201cjust one more piece of cake; just one more scene of porn; just one more drink; just one more pair of shoes (or in my case, wool sweater), and you\u2019ll be satisfied.\u201d \u00a0What we learn from all this is that the appetites are liars, inflating their value like the pork projects of the American congress and, like that same body, leaving us feeling spent, no, overspent<\/em>, when it\u2019s finished.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s solution to this is powerfully liberating. \u00a0He\u2019s not anti-food, anti-sex, anti-money. \u00a0God is about fortifying our spirit so that we can align our lives with the rhythms of grace He\u2019s created. \u00a0In the real world, there\u2019s morning and evening, work and rest, eating and abstaining, making love, and an intensifying of longing<\/a>`, the joy of wearing a new sweater for the first time, and maturity of learning to love it still, four years later. \u00a0There\u2019s the joy of a glass of wine after supper on the deck as the sun sets, a joy that\u2019s intensified if it\u2019s not indulged every single evening.<\/p>\n

The rhythm of indulgence and abstinence is the way God has made the world, and our capacity to step into that rhythm is learned by the practice of fasting. \u00a0In a world where we have the resources to meet to the demanding voice of our appetites, periodic fasting becomes more important than ever! \u00a0How do you learn to fast?<\/p>\n

1. Find your most demanding appetite<\/strong>. \u00a0That will usually be the place where you turn first for \u201cself-comfort\u201d, whether food, or sex, or alcohol, or sleep, or \u2026?? It\u2019s right there that you should fast so that you can learn to walk through the valleys of challenge that come in our lives by leaning on Christ rather than disengaging from Christ and seeking solace in the fleeting pleasures of your comfort zone.<\/p>\n

2. Name your fast.<\/strong> \u201cI will abstain from social media and TV from the end of supper through the rest of the evening, for the next three weeks\u201d (that\u2019s mine). \u00a0Then tell someone (I just did). \u00a0St. Benedict would tell you that it should be challenging enough to be meaningful, but not overwhelming.<\/p>\n

3. Annoint your head<\/strong>. \u00a0That means that during the fast, you need to be about the business of stepping more fully into God\u2019s story. \u00a0For example, in my case, I really do need to come home from the class I\u2019m presently teaching and converse with my wife during this precious summer nights, rather than watching TV and cruising facebook. \u00a0What is it for you? \u00a0Maybe it\u2019s reading your Bible, or talking a walk, or having friends over, or working in the garden, or playing games with your kids. \u00a0Whatever it is, step into your calling to bless others. \u00a0I spoke of this extensively in my sermon yesterday, which I\u2019ll post here soon.<\/p>\n

4. Maintain the vision.<\/strong> You\u2019re called, in this life, to be a channel through which God can pour joy, hope, meaning, mercy, generosity, and more into this world. \u00a0The appetites of our lives, which are intended to bless us with gifts of grace, need a leader. \u00a0Your life in Christ is the leader they\u2019ve been waiting for.<\/p>\n

Take a plunge into the world of fasting, a timeless practice<\/a> of the faith, and you\u2019ll find two things will happen:<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll enjoy the gifts of this life more than ever <\/strong>\u2013 food and drink taste better, there can be health benefit<\/a>s, and our senses are intensified!<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll see your calling to be a blessing with greater clarity<\/strong> \u2013 the vision of God\u2019s reign is seen with greater clarity when the senses take a break!<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re going to be trying a fast, or you have questions about this process, I\u2019d love to hear about it here, and others would benefit too \u2013 please share in the comment section. \u00a0Thanks in advance.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI like food too much to not fast\u201d David Steindl-Rast, in his \u201cA Listening Heart\u201d, writes about what he calls sensuous asceticism. \u00a0He\u2019s trying to find that space between the over-indulgences of our culture, where food, sex, shopping, social networking, music, movies, television, web surfing, clothing, drugs, and alcohol are just some of the many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[23366],"class_list":["post-1512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exhaling","category-inhaling","tag-rule-of-life"],"yoast_head":"\nFasting: The foundation of a life of Feasting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""I like food too much to not fast" David Steindl-Rast, in his "A Listening Heart", writes about what he calls sensuous asceticism. \u00a0He's trying to find\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/01\/fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fasting: The foundation of a life of Feasting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""I like food too much to not fast" David Steindl-Rast, in his "A Listening Heart", writes about what he calls sensuous asceticism. \u00a0He's trying to find\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/01\/fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-01T14:28:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.saidaonline.com\/en\/newsgfx\/fasting-saidaonline.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Richard Dahlstrom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Richard Dahlstrom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/01\/fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/01\/fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting\/\",\"name\":\"Fasting: The foundation of a life of Feasting\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-08-01T14:28:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-08-01T14:28:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728\"},\"description\":\"\\\"I like food too much to not fast\\\" David Steindl-Rast, in his \\\"A Listening Heart\\\", writes about what he calls sensuous asceticism. \u00a0He's trying to find\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/01\/fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/01\/fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/01\/fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fasting: The foundation of a life of Feasting\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/\",\"name\":\"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Richard Dahlstrom\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728\",\"name\":\"Richard Dahlstrom\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Richard Dahlstrom\"},\"description\":\"As Pastor of Bethany Community Church in Seattle, Richard teaches with vision of \\\"making the invisible God visible\\\" by calling people to acts of service and blessing. It's working, as a wilderness ministry, homeless shelter, and community meals that serve those living on the margins are all pieces of Bethany's life. \\\"We're being the presence of Christ\\\" he says, \\\"and inviting everyone to join the adventure.\\\" Many have, making Bethany one of the fastest growing churches in America in 2009 according to Outreach Magazine.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/author\/richarddahlstrom\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fasting: The foundation of a life of Feasting","description":"\"I like food too much to not fast\" David Steindl-Rast, in his \"A Listening Heart\", writes about what he calls sensuous asceticism. \u00a0He's trying to find","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/01\/fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fasting: The foundation of a life of Feasting","og_description":"\"I like food too much to not fast\" David Steindl-Rast, in his \"A Listening Heart\", writes about what he calls sensuous asceticism. \u00a0He's trying to find","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/01\/fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting\/","og_site_name":"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything","article_published_time":"2011-08-01T14:28:52+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.saidaonline.com\/en\/newsgfx\/fasting-saidaonline.jpg"}],"author":"Richard Dahlstrom","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Richard Dahlstrom","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/01\/fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/01\/fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting\/","name":"Fasting: The foundation of a life of Feasting","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-08-01T14:28:52+00:00","dateModified":"2011-08-01T14:28:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728"},"description":"\"I like food too much to not fast\" David Steindl-Rast, in his \"A Listening Heart\", writes about what he calls sensuous asceticism. \u00a0He's trying to find","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/01\/fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/01\/fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/01\/fasting-the-foundation-of-a-life-of-feasting\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fasting: The foundation of a life of Feasting"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/","name":"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything","description":"The Blog of Richard Dahlstrom","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728","name":"Richard Dahlstrom","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Richard Dahlstrom"},"description":"As Pastor of Bethany Community Church in Seattle, Richard teaches with vision of \"making the invisible God visible\" by calling people to acts of service and blessing. It's working, as a wilderness ministry, homeless shelter, and community meals that serve those living on the margins are all pieces of Bethany's life. \"We're being the presence of Christ\" he says, \"and inviting everyone to join the adventure.\" Many have, making Bethany one of the fastest growing churches in America in 2009 according to Outreach Magazine.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/author\/richarddahlstrom\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}