resources
« He Was Hungry | Main | Bread of Life »
February 27, 2009Fasting
Last Night in Gethsemane by Wisnu Sasongko
At the very core of fasting is empathy with the divine or participation in God's perception of a sacred moment. When someone dies, God is grieved; when someone sins, particularly egregiously, God is grieved; when a nation is threatened, God is grieved. We could provide more examples. The point is this: fasting identifies with God's perspective and grief in a sacred moment. Fasting enables us to identify with how God views a given event; fasting empowers us to empathize with God. Fasting is about pathos, taking on the emotions of God in a given event. . . . When people tell us they are fasting, we should ask "In response to what?" instead of "What do you hope you will get out of it?"
- Scot McKnight, Fasting
recent posts
Tags
Africa, Archaeology, Asia, Australia, Bible, cartoon, chart, church life, churches, collage, crafts, design, drawing, Easter, Europe, exhibits, history, holidays, Holy Week, illumination, India, Jesus, Lent, ministry, movies, News, news, painting, paintings, photography, print, research, sculpture, South America, stained glass, U.S., woodblock, woodcut, worship| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
Comments
These images with your explanation would make a great widget that could be placed on websites!
Posted By: Phill | February 27, 2009 10:07 PM
I've just discovered this site and am so extremely thankful for the work you're doing here. Thank you, thank you!!
Posted By: Brian Moss | March 3, 2009 11:26 AM
I liked this post and the picture depicted well the idea of fasting. What hit me the most were the questions at the end of the blog. If I fast I do not tell anyone. It's between me and the Lord, but the questions still stand. As I read those questions I was reflecting on the last time that I fasted and what it was in response to. For me, it was in response to a heavy burden for two of my adult children. I believe they are born-again but have taken the throne of their own lives back.They have made some poor choices and now are paying the consequences. At first when I thought about fasting it was to focus on them and plead to God to change their circumstances. Then as I kept reading the Word I realized that their hearts had to be open to the woeing of the Holy Spirit snd letting Him change their hearts toward God and desiring Him. The only thing I would "hope to get out of it", would be the joy in seeing my children rejoicing in the Him again.
Posted By: Anonymous | March 4, 2009 5:05 AM