Fasting

In all my postings about changing my relationship to relationships, I give credit to courses I've taken, energy healing and to my ability to manifest what matters to me. I've never mentioned fasting.

I love fasting! There was a short period in the late 90's when I belonged to a Church of God in Christ (COGIC). The pastor was a faster. Effectively! I'm impressed by results. And he looked great! Fasting was encouraged for both church and personal goals, spiritual and physical.

Fasting wasn't new to me. As a child, I'd watched Muslim family members observe Ramadan as well as fast periodically to cleanse the body. It wasn't a big stretch to take it on when Pastor Hill preached its virtues.

Back in 1999, my COGIC days, I once fasted for three days, having only water and a little juice or tea on the third day. The second day was rough, but the third day was fabulous. I was tired, but not fatigued; my mind was clear and my heart felt pure. Lovely!

Although I left COGIC, I continued to fast for both spiritual and material benefit. I remember fasting in 1999 for a condo I wanted to buy. It was perfect, 3 bedrooms, one a loft, high ceilings, huge deck and lots of natural light. I fasted and prayed and hoped and hoped, but also added that I only wanted it if it was God's Will and the right place.

My offer wasn't accepted. I took the next day off to recover from my crushed dream and called the realtor to see what had come up on the market in the three weeks I'd spent praying, fasting, hoping and waiting for the one that fell through. Three or four hours later we walked into this place I've now lived for ten years. I fell in love with it on sight. From that moment on, fasting has been a big part of my life. Yet, until now, I've not shared about it.

I've shared so much about Landmark Education, reiki, crystals and so on. The truth is that when I decided to create a committed relationship, I prayed about it and asked what kind of fasting would have me clear out the spiritual, mental and emotional debris that always gets in the way.

Oh yeah, a little detail...Sometimes a suggested fast finds it's way to my inner ear and I either say yeah or nay. Other times, I'll have an outcome in mind, a particular request, and I'll ask that inner voice what's recommended.

When I inquired internally for a fasting regimen to create the relationship I wanted, I heard 20 Mondays before my birthday. I don't remember when I prayed about the fasting recommendation or exactly when the answer came, but I know the first Monday was December 1, 2008. Glad I calendared it! The 20th Monday happened sometime in June. (They were generally midnight to midnight, but a few were 8am-8pm.)

In a conversation with a friend a few days ago, I shared that the stories of people, situations, movies and media are incredibly transparent for me of late. I mentioned again that while I have the converter box my Mom didn't need sitting in a closet ready to install, I haven't had a functioning television since they switched to digital in June. Haven't missed it much, either. "No wonder," he says, "you've fasted media and now you've got this gift of seeing things transparently."

I hadn't thought of it as "fasting" since it wasn't intentional or deliberate. That's happened before, though. I'll get super busy and not make time to eat and then decide to turn it into a fast. So, yes, let's make it a fast. I'll finally get satellite or something when the new school year starts, making the fast from television the entire summer break.

If you haven't fasted before, try it out. For me it goes hand-in-hand with prayer, but take it on however works for you. You feel better, your skin gets healthier and it enhances any weight loss activities.

What got me thinking about fasting this morning were thoughts of gifts, giving, finances and tithing. I'm fasting wasteful spending for my 43rd year. Ouch! That one's gonna hurt. I'll be spending the next couple days praying over exactly what that's going to look like.

The spiritual aspect is in unearthing and clearing out the hidden scripts and imperatives of which wasteful spending is a symptom. I can't wait.

**If there are any friends or family wondering why I didn't share about the 20 days of fasting sooner, it was simply because I was also fasting blabbing about it. There were times I wanted to share it, but it felt pretty clear that the instruction was to keep it to myself until it ended. It strikes me as peculiarly obedient that even though the actual fast was completed in June, the designated fasting period was until my birthday, and I was only moved to share about it now that the last Monday before my b-day has passed.

Obedience is highly underrated.