In a society where instant gratification and attainment of all our wants and desires are but a few mere keystrokes away, fasting has become somewhat of a societal artifact. This idea that there is a spiritual benefit to denying oneself from certain foods at certain times has for the most part become somewhat passe. In the 1960’s fasting was so prevalent that the McDonald’s Hamburger chain created the Filet’O Fish in order to increase restaurant sales on Fridays when many people avoided eating meat. Of course today, many Christian communities have slowly eroded the concept of fasting from Christian worship. In the Orthodox Church however, attempting to preserve the Apostolic tradition in it’s purest form, has retained the connection between fasting and Christian worship. As we attempt in our lives to imitate Christ in everything we do, we recall the fact that Christ Himself fasted for 40 days in preparation for His ultimate sacrifice for humanity. We also recall the Apostles God given ability to heal the sick be halted suddenly in a particularly difficult case which required Christ Himself to complete the miracle. When asked by the apostles why they could not heal the child the Lord told them that this case required “prayer and fasting.” (Mathew 17:21). Christ Himself taught us that prayer and fasting go hand in hand in the struggle against evil. As such the Orthodox Church has set aside close to 200 days per year to fast according to the practice established by the early Church fathers. Every Wednesday and Friday we fast because we remember Christ’s betrayal on Wednesday and His crucifixion on Friday. We fast the 40 days before Easter and the 40 days before Christmas. We fast the 15 days before the Dormition of the Holy Mother and for the Apostles in June. Amongst other days we fast, on these days we are expected to increase our prayer life and connect closer to God Himself. We don’t choose what to “give up” during Lent or the other fasting periods. To choose would require some level of ego in the equation as the Christian tailors the fast to their own liking. We don’t give anything up because God gave His son to us and His Son gave His life for our salvation. This is of course extremely important and a pillar of our faith. However, we do not look to repay this sacrifice through fasting. God created man as a composite of flesh and spirit. God’s intention was that the spirit would always connect with God, and the flesh would allow the spirit to be in control. In today’s society however, the opposite has become true. The passions of the body far outweigh the needs of the soul to connect to God. As such the soul can atrophy while the passions of the body can take over. By fasting from meat, dairy, eggs, or fish and focusing on more simple nourishment we remind ourselves that our physical desires must always take a back seat to the soul’s connection with God. By training ourselves to avoid the temptation of certain types of foods, we remind our body that our soul is in charge. As we improve in this practice of spirit over body we can transfer this skill to other elements of our spiritual growth. By perfecting our fasting we can also learn to remind our body that despite feeling exhausted, we must still complete our prayers and connect with our Father on an ongoing basis. Christ Himself, and by extension the Apostles and many Saints during the early Church accomplished feats that went beyond the limitations of their physical bodies. This was accomplished through prayer and fasting. As we perfect our ability to follow the fasting traditions of the ancient faith, namely the Orthodox Church, we begin to perfect ourselves. When people are asked what their goals are in life, you hear countless examples of a worldly perception of success. The reality is that we only have one true goal in life. That goal is to become Saints or to reach theosis. Theosis which is defined as the personal transformation process whose aim is our likeness or union with God, is preceded by two steps. Humans first must reach catharsis (purification), then enlightenment (understanding of God) then Theosis. These steps are all facilitated by the willingness of each Orthodox Christian to put aside their ego and their worldly desires and nurture their soul through prayer and fasting.
