Last week, we found ourselves fasting on the same day. It was an unplanned gift from God. Natalie called me and sheepishly asked, "You may not want to say anything, but I didn't see your cereal bowl in the sink this morning. Are you fasting today?" That evening as we broke our fast together (it was just a 24 hour fast, nothing incredibly 'spiritual'), I prayed that in our fasting God would help us to be in deeper solidarity with those who do not have a choice.
Since that time, we have both been convicted that we need to curb several different aspects of our lives that are far too luxurious. We have the resources to drop $3-5 on Starbucks or Caribou coffee or on one serving of ice cream from Cold Stone or Marble Slab. All the while, millions of people do not have a choice to eat, they are partaking of a forced fast, demanded by a lack of food resources and funds. We live luxuriously, while others suffer.
This has been on both of our minds a lot lately, especially when considering the demand in Luke-Acts that responding to the visitation of God in Jesus demands a reorientation of our disposition to money and possessions. So, Natalie brought up the idea of trying to fast from luxuriousness. We are currently embarking on a journey of fasting from our normal habit of buying gourmet coffee by the cup and ice cream by the cone. (I must confess that coffee and ice cream are two of my favorite vices!)
Now, many of you are probably thinking some of the same things we have been discussing. For example, many of the poorest farmers in the world are coffee farmers. Will we not be hurting their livelihood if we stop buying coffee? Well, by refraining from the luxuriousness of gourmet coffee by the cup, we hope to be able to spend slightly more on the coffee we buy to brew at home or at work. That way we can try to ensure that coffee growers are getting the fair market value for the coffees they are selling.
I know that there are a lot of other questions that could be asked as well, but I want to hear your thoughts on the topic. What would it mean for those of us who are in more affluent positions in society to embark on a fast from luxuriousness? Can our fasting from luxuriousness help us be in deeper solidarity with those who don't have a choice? What are your thoughts?
5 comments:
Eric,
what if we just bought new clothes when the old ones wore out? What if we bought all our gifts for people at ten thousand villages? What if we only ate the amount of calories our bodies needed, like skip dinner on ice cream night (a serious suggestion in the mennonite cookbook)?
I think that is what Isaiah 58 is about. Allowing our acts of devotion to benefit those in need.
My convictions in this area are not yet met by many lifestyle changes, but the changes I have made have resulted in a sense of fulfillment beyond that which Olive Garden can provide.
Besides, the best feast is yet to come!
Kevin, I appreciate your thoughts (always have) and the link to the fairly traded goods site. Natalie and I just recently bought a Mennonite cookbook called "More with Less." It is an attempt to help utilize less of the worlds limited resourece in something as basic and foundational as our cooking. This is our second Mennonite cookbook. Those folks know how to cook, but that is a different story.
I also appreciate your reference to Isaiah 58 and the discussion of true "fasting" as the alleviation of the needs of others. In a world of nearly Gnostic spiritual piety, we would do well to remember this prophetic call. Early in the 4th C., the Syriac father, Aphrahat, described the pure offering of prayer as that which effects the rest of God in the lives of others, namely making provision for the poor, giving rest to the weary, and visiting the sick.
Isaiah 58 sounds a lot like the words of Jesus in Luke regarding the need to reorient our disposition toward possessions in order to join in the work of the inbreaking kingdom of God.
We stand together as those whose convictions are ahead of our lifestyle changes, but we are all on the journey of faith together and through continued dialogue we can better embody that which we believe. May God give us the grace to effect his rest in the lives of others.
Greetings Eric from the C/Kasey's!
First, thankyou for giving us a slice into your life/marriage. We found your words challenging for our own.
Second, this post expressed much of my recent thinking about the call to simplicity (I would recommend Simpler Living Compassional Life : A Christian Perspective - Edited by Michael Schut.)
Kasey and I have become proponents of Fair Trade products because it is providing structural change and not just a handout. (You can give someone a fishing pole and feed them for a life time but if they don't have a pond to fish in...!)
In regards to challenging people in our churches to a simplier life - I think we are fighting an uphill war that needs to be fought by first living it out as an example to those we lead/serve.
Kasey and I chose to live in an apartment complex very close to the church - much to the chagrin of some of the members because it was 'dangerous' (whcih was of course an unfounded assumption - from a distance - based on ethnicity and income of the residents) As we communicated our desire to be good neighbors to those around our building and to show hospitality we actually had a good friend of ours apologize for his critique after coming over to our place! A picture is worth...
-Just some thoughts.
Give Natalie our best!
Agreed! My eyebrows were lifted and I gave a triumphant "hmmmmm" as I saw good ol' Pat on the One Campaign commercial.
Eric--
Thanks for sharing this. I've been thinking about these same things. I'll just share something I'm trying to implement into my habits. I learned of someone who for every new item he buys, he gives something away. For instance, a new shirt would mean you give away another shirt. A new CD would mean you give away another CD.
Amazing, it's even tough for me to write these things. It's amazing how deeply our culture runs, eh?
I sure miss you guys...
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