Sunday, July 30, 2006

Day Four

I've been debating whether or not to share about this on the blog... I had a long talk with K last night that convinced me that it would be a good thing to do.

Today is the fourth day of an extended fast for me. I'm drinking some juice but not eating any food. The fourth day of a long fast is a nice day for me, as most of the hunger pains and other physical discomforts disappear around this time. I'll probably still be cold and still be tired, but I probably won't have hunger pangs and the mental cloudiness of day two and three will probably dissapate.

Two reasons I decided to share this and to talk openly about the experience are: 1) I think that fasting has this mysterious "we don't talk about it" aspect in our current Christian culture, which is really too bad because it makes it seem inaccessible and strange to people who haven't tried it yet. And it's such a good, useful tool for spiritual growth; it's a shame we don't talk about it openly sometimes. And then, 2), I just feel weird not sharing about it on the blog because it' s a major part of my life right now, and this is where I share major things about my life. I feel close to the BHR community. As Alexis said last night when I said the same thing to her, "You mean you feel close to the general public." I guess so!

Another thing I'd like to say on this topic: fasting, even for a long time, does not make one Super Spiritual. I am not bragging when I talk about this experience. In fact, I am pretty much embarrassed to talk about it at all. But I think it's good to talk about it.

Over the next couple of weeks I'll share more about this... my continuing experience, why I'm fasting, the benefits I find in fasting, the lousy things I discover about myself while fasting, etc. I want to be open about what it's like to be fasting for a couple weeks at a time, so feel free to ask questions if you want, either in the comments section or by e-mail, and I'll answer them here.

Thanks, friends. Now I'm off to have breakfast. I mean, to have a glass of water! :)

3 comments:

  1. The long fast along with the cryptic dirt road entry, what is going on? i'll give you a call soon ...

    But if you want to go ride a roller coaster with me, say ... 30 days from now, I'll fly to Portland just for that. Plus, I need a vacation anyway.

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  2. I'm glad that your sharing, Matt. I really look forward to hearing what you are learning from this and where you are going with it. It was great to be with you and Krista and fam for a bit. I wish it could have been longer. Thanks for your hospitality!

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  3. cryptic dirt road entry = Matt's farewell to food.

    I really love food.

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