Since “retirement” (which according to one of my friends, I have failed miserably at doing), I have been checking items off my “bucket list.” I completed one more of those just last month: a Caribbean cruise. Though warned about the abundance of food available, I nonetheless took advantage of the many restaurants with sumptuous spreads on board all included in the price of my trip. The twelve pounds gained by my feasting meant twelve pounds to lose upon my return by fasting. I thought of the challenge of feasting and fasting as we prepare to enter the season of Lent.
We do not think of the imagery of feasting in Lent as we do that of fasting. Feasting in this sense means filling our life to the brim with a life direction, quality, value, or purpose for life. Fasting means denying ourselves something that either we cherish or that possesses us.
The whole purpose of giving something up at Lent or fasting is to discipline our lives so that Christ can become a deeper reality in our spiritual journey. But it does no good to give something up unless we replace it with something else better. This is where the concept of feasting comes in - to fill our lives with something great and grand after we have gotten rid of something that weighed us down.
What if we fasted from a bad habit or attitude that hurts us and those around us, and instead feasted on something that was good for us - something that molded us more into the person of faith and love that God intended for us to be?
What if we fasted from words that pollute and instead feasted on words that purify? The ability to bring out the best in each other by the power of encouraging words is evidence that the Holy Spirit is empowering our witness. Encouragement is like peanut butter on a sandwich - the more you spread it on the bread, the better the bread sticks together. In her book Balcony People, Joyce Landorf describes and divides people into two categories, “basement people and balcony people.” Basement people only criticize and poison the landscape of the human soul and spirit. They tell us what we aren’t rather than what we can be. Balcony people are not merely sitting there, but are practically hanging over the rail, cheering us on. This Lent, let’s fast from the words that pollute and feast on words that purify. Let’s be balcony people.
Finally, during this Lent, fast on selfishness and feast on compassion for others. Jesus knew that his mission was to bring the grace, love and compassion of God to others, and he focused on that priority rather than self-concern.
A man came to this country from Sweden to find work. But after a while, he became very homesick for his native land. Quietly, he saved every penny he could until he had enough for the cheapest ticket on an ocean-going ship to return to Sweden.
On the day of the sailing, the man purchased a supply of cheese and crackers to eat during the five-day crossing. He boarded the ship and found his tiny room. Each evening, he would watch the elegantly dressed travelers coming and going from the great dining rooms on the ship. And he would retire to his room for cheese and crackers.
Finally, on the last night of the trip, he decided he had enough money for one splurge. He entered the dining room and enjoyed a veritable feast, the best he had ever eaten. When the meal was over, he walked up to the dining room host to pay for the meal. To his surprise, the man said, “Oh, you don’t owe me anything. All of the meals are included in the cost of your ticket.”
What a tragedy to go through life on cheese and crackers when you could be feasting at the banquet!
