Do Not Deny Your Body! The Great Fast

I hope the title of this blog article caught your attention; it's meant to. But what do I mean by that?

It is that time of year when people are participating in the Great Fast (Lent) in preparation towards Pascha (Easter).  The inevitable conversations and questions come up about the rules, the guidelines, what we are allowed to eat, and so forth. These things are good, as they give us a baseline to try from, but they are not the end goal of fasting. And if you already eat in this way (perhaps you are a vegan), you might have met the guidelines, but they don't serve you as tool towards growth. Or, you are able to eat veggie burgers instead of hamburgers, or make the perfect vegetarian cake from categories of foods that are "fast friendly" -- you have denied the spirit and usefulness of fasting by only looking at the letter of the law.


Your body needs nutrition to work properly, and the different stages, ages, and genders of your family members may need different physical nourishment to fulfil that. Are you a physical laborer? You cannot deny your body the proper fuel to make a living and support your family, and do your duty as a good worker. Are you a mother? Your ascetic life requires constant self denial and your bodily resources are used to nourish others; often literally! Are you a child? Your job right now is to learn and grow. Do you already have physical and health challenges that make life difficult? Do not worsen them by choosing a poor diet, even if it's temporary.

Do not deny the body what it needs -- the fast is not meant to deny the body, it is meant to deny the ego; it is meant to deny passion's control over you. If you make yourself sick, tired, ill, or lacking in energy, how will you fulfill your vocation in life? Be good to your body -- it is a valuable, sacred tool to be respected & loved. Do not allow your fasting understanding to become a semi-gnostic understanding of the body being bad, and the physical something to punish.


Let us not be pharisaic about the fast, desperately seeking the easy road of following the letter of the law: "Do not eat this; eat this" will not help you in your path. It is simply a tool to help you remember the power of your will, and your ability to direct your will towards that which it is most meant for: your vocation in life that leads you towards greater union with God, and union with one another in God.