About fasts

Ash Wednesday. 2nd of March, 2022.

Today marks the beginning of the 40 days fasting season for the Catholics. I'm not going to go into what the lenten season is about but just as the lenten season requests, one is to fast from things you struggle to do away with. There is a need to not be loud or boastful about your fasts, a lot of non-catholics do not even realise that this is a serious fasting period for Catholics. The most common method of fasting requires one to abstain from food from the moment one wakes up from sleep till a certain time in the day. It is usually termed to start by 6am but it doesn't mean you get to eat anytime that morning before 6am.

The fast may last from 6am to 12pm, 6am to 4pm, 6am to 6pm etc. There is also the dry fasting that requires one not to drink water or any liquid alongside with solid meals.

The lenten fast, however, requires something not as specific as food. While food fast as lifted above is definitely involved, it goes beyond that. One is required to fast from things they know they couldn't do without, not limited to food. It could be a vice, something luxurious, a particular meal etc. You may have heard that Catholics fast from meat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays of lent. This is because in the olden times, meat was considered a luxury. One is also asked to give alms to the poor, both during the fasting period and the everytime after.

Why Fast?

You may have heard that when one loses sense organ, the others become heightened. Fasting works in that way as taking attention from our bodily needs helps us connect more with our spiritual side. It hinges on one's desire to be closer to God. If you simply skipped a meal or failed to eat for any reason, it doesn't mean you've fasted. Fasting is intentional and requires one to focus on their spirituality. Fasting is not limited to Christians, our Muslim brothers and sisters do fast a lot and up till 6pm! I believe other religions also participate. It should be noted that there are exemptions from fasting e.g The old, the sick, the very young people are exempted from fasting. In other religions, there are other things that may exempt one from fasting. One should not fast in a way that hurts the body and should understand why they're fasting in the first place.

Now, things are different and I'll be listing some of the things one can fast from during this period or whenever you want to fast.

What to fast from?

• Social Media

It is no secret that a majority of people spend their most of their lives surfing different social media platforms like WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Telegram etc. Most of the times we are not in these sites because we need to be there but because we derive some form of pleasure from there. While that is OK, sometimes social media users spend so much time on these sites that they are considered addicted. If you are one who social media distracts you from efficient daily functioning, you may decide to fast from social media.

• Negative talk/Gossip

I think we all know someone who always has something negative to say about anything or someone who likes to talk about people. The truth is that a lot of people do not realise that they are this way but a self-assessment will help you put things in perspective. Are you always "gisting" or "talking" about events that happened to someone else? When you discuss about someone else, is it usually a necessary or relevant discussion to be having? Will that discussion help that person or only make them look bad? Is what you're saying absolutely true or is it exaggerated? You might as well just apply the rotary four way test here. You can also ask yourself if you are always looking for mistakes, if you resort to complain about mistakes without giving compliments on efforts. If you find yourself doing any of these, it will be good to abstain from them.

• Others

Other things one can fast from includes food, alcohol, traditional media (TV, radio etc), luxury items like clothes, gadgets etc, luxury vacations, unnecessary expenses etc.

Things you can do

Help the needy, donate to the less privileged, pray more often, read your holy book, meditate etc.

Thanks for reading. I'm curious to know your opinions on fasting