In the Wilderness

I was - briefly - pondering Lent and Easter a few moments ago. What occurred to me mainly was how much more time I "had" to spend on memorizing scripture during Lent. That was a purposeful choice on my part, and one which I definitely intend to repeat. But it got me thinking about fasting.

Since we are not Dr. Who, and do not have any control over time or its flow, we only have one way to "make time" for something, and that is to give up something else. This is really the definition of fasting. When we fast, we give up something (often eating, but sometimes more difficult things like the internet) in favor of something else. One sided "fasting", which consists of simply giving something up, leaves a hole in our lives. This hole, if not purposefully filled, will be accidentally filled by the flotsam and jetsam of daily life, especially when it is a time hole, because we still have to spend the time somehow.

Thus it is that Jesus - and so many, many others - went into the desert to fast and pray. The purpose of going into the desert wasn't fasting. The purpose was praying. It's just that some times you have to make room for prayer, and that is the essence of fasting.

Thinking - briefly - about fasting, led me briefly on to thinking about wildernesses, where so many people have fasted, either by their own choice or someone else's. Thinking - briefly - about the wilderness led me to thinking about camping, wherein I had my epiphany: Camping is the essence of fasting. How many people speak of camping in terms of "getting away", or "taking time off"? In camping, we give up the conveniences of modern day life, with its very many distractions, and we fill that time with other things: hiking, napping, reading, swimming, playing games, talking. Sometimes even praying.

So next time you have to explain Lent and fasting to a friend who "just doesn't get it", tell them that it's kinda like going camping for 40 days, but without all of the packing, unpacking, smoke, bugs and dirt.