The Message of Fasting

From By O. Fernandez, New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer 

The Message of Fasting

It is fitting that today in the United States that we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and in doing so we also read in the Gospel about fasting, putting on patches on cloaks, and new wine into old wineskins.  Dr King's speeches resonate with the message of justice and nonviolent actions. Most adults and schoolchildren alike are familiar with his "I had a Dream" speech having learned about and studied it in school. Yet it seems that the very message he preached of harmony has fallen on hard times in recent years.

Dr. King warned our nation of spiritual death in his speech April 4, 1967 to the Riverside Church.  Most of his speech was dedicated to the rising disenchantment with the Vietnam War which was tearing at heart of nation at the time. He was quite clear about the ramifications of continued violence internally and externally. However, as with his constant underlying theme of hope, he proposes a solution. Below is an excerpt from the end of the speech.

This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing -- embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. This oft misunderstood, this oft misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am not speaking of that force which is just emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Muslim-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate -- ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John: "Let us love one another, for love is God. And every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love." "If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us."⁴ Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day.

We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. And history is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate.

Fasting is defined as refraining from eating abased on the definition found in dictionaries. We are challenged to fast during Lent from various forms of comforts and food. I find myself that fasting from food is quite difficult for health reasons, but from fasting from snacks between meals is more realistic. Fasting brings me closer to God through prayer and my need for His divine presence in my life. Each temptation to reach out and eat brings is met with a surrender to God. 

However, fasting can relate to how we speak and act. Fasting from violence is what Dr. King repeats throughout his many discourses. Jesus talks of mixing old with new in the forms of wineskins and fabric. Being a teacher of history, I can honestly say that we as a nation need to fully examine the message of Dr. King. Mixing the old ways (or recently new ways of dialogue depending on who you speak) of with message of reconciliation and then lash out at others is not consistent with our the Gospel message.  We cannot say I am turning over a new leaf by not speaking negatively of those we don't agree with and then decide it only applies to certain people. 

Violence is not always that which is seen, it is that which harbored in my inner being. My actions and words may seem peaceful, but unless the anger and resentment which is seething under the surface is reconciled, sooner or later the seed which has been planted will come to surface. Jesus answers  in Matthew 18:22, when Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus replied, "seventy-seven times."

A radical change of heart is the only method of bringing peace and it begins with me as an individual. This change can happen by relying on the Gospel message of pouring new wine, the risen Christ, into  a new wineskin, myself, reconciled to the way of Christ. Thus in order to be new I must discard of the old cloak of sinful speech and actions and put on a new one. And as Dr. King so eloquently said, "Let us love one another, for love is God."