Fast foods” from McDonalds and KFC are fashionable. Simultaneously, there’s a fad to “fast from foods”. Fasting is “in”, especially among youth to downsize bloated bellies or develop hourglass figures. But beyond bodily breadth and beauty, many people fast with myriad motives: religious, political and economic.
Most religious traditions stipulate some form of fasting.
Christians are currently observing Lent — in preparation for the greatest of Christian feasts, Easter — during which many fast. Some Hindus fast monthly on Ekadasi, Pradosha or Purnima, while others fast weekly on specific days: Shaivites on Mondays, Vaishnavites on Thursdays, and Ayyappa-devotees, Saturdays. Exemplary fasting is done by Muslims during Ramzan.
Commendable though fasting is, it could induce a holier-than-thou attitude. When the one who fasts expects admirers to exclaim: “Wow!” one’s fasting loses merit since it is directed outward for recognition and praise. Likewise, fasting to earn God’s favours or as ticket to heaven isn’t praiseworthy.
Fasting is most meritorious when done for egoless motives: surrendering oneself totally to serve God, as a sign of penitence, to fortify one’s faith, as an expression of one’s total dependence on God, as grateful acknowledgement of Mother Nature’s bounty, or in symbolic solidarity with those who have little or nothing to eat.
In Jesus’ time, pharisaical hypocrites publicly paraded their fasting with unkempt hair, donning sackcloth, smearing ash on foreheads, and putting on long faces. Exposing their hypocrisy, Jesus said: “When you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show off. But, when you fast, wash your face and oil your head so that your fasting may not be noticed by others.” Fasting with happy faces is admirable.
The Bible berates those who fast while exploiting others. God says, “Look, your fasting is accompanied by brawls and fistfights… Is this the fasting I want? …No, I want you to set the oppressed free, share food with the hungry and provide shelter to the homeless.” These acts of love make fasting creditable.
When people fast to protest injustices, besides being “political”, fasting becomes a sacred duty: as in Gandhi’s satyagraha. Linked to this is fasting’s economic dimension — the “forced fast” of millions of poor who have no money to buy food. Why not donate what we save from our fasting towards filling their empty bellies?
The Sanskrit upvaas for fasting — joining “up” and “vaas” — means “dwelling near” or “abiding underneath”. True upvaas draws the devotee to dwell in God’s presence and delight in God’s providence. That’s sufficient reason to be happy, isn’t it? And, if fasting decreases weight and waistline, that’s added reason to smile!
— Francis Gonsalves is a professor of theology. He can be contacted at fragons@gmail.com
