Fasting

Day five of my fast.  Time flies when you are having a good time. Days 2 and 3 are the challenge, since those are the days when I actually feel hunger.  After that, it is no problem, I could easily starve myself to death without any challenge.  They say you can go without much problem 30 days without food, 3 days without water and 3 minutes without air... beyond those, you are asking for trouble.  So limiting myself to seven days is to be a lightweight.

The point of a fast is to take something instinctive, like eating and self-preservation, and stopping, holding it in your hand, examining it and saying "no."  When you can do that to food, you can do it to just about anything.  That is the point, to gain liberation through deliberation.

I suppose it will not stop the wars, but what if 50 million USA men fasted this week?  I think then no wars.  It ain't gonna happen, but I do my part.  Heck, if ten men did it the wars would probably stop.

The first time I fasted for one day.  I thought I was going to die.  It was entirely psychological.  Over the years I extended it to 40 hours, that is no eats from 8pm Thursday to noon Saturday.  And these are not daylight fasts, I eat nothing during a fast.  From 8pm Friday Mar 30 to noon Saturday Apr 7.  Seven days with no food.

And by nothing, I mean no fruit smoothies, just clear liquids.  Chicken broth, sure, apple juice, of course, even beer (why do people find that funny?) but nothing solid and nothing pureed from solid food.  24 x 7.

I actually regret finishing the fast.  The energy, the lightness that comes on later in the week is nice, and there are pyschological and metaphysical dimensions.  

Coming off a fast needs be done right, moving from raw greens, to veggies, fruits, seafood and then meat.  I like a nice Crab Louie to break fast.  Another trick is when the fast is over, the body says "let's make up in one day what we missed last week."  Part of the discipline is to make sure that does not happen, the food not eaten is never recovered.

An MD once told me that after a couple of days the body begins to eat itself for support.  And it starts with what is worst and moves on through your body, so fasting is good.  He claimed it is good for checking disease in this way.  Who knows?

Jesus said some demons can be cast out only through prayer and fasting.  We've got demons to cast out from our midst.  Where is the fasting commensurate with the demon's presence?