the simple life | feast or fast

image by kmevans

We are quickly coming to that furious final month of the year. Those who have squandered this year with too much work and not enough time with family and friends try to make it up with guilt-laden gift giving and gluttonous gatherings.

That is the picture of much of the American culture, including much of the Christian community. There is another way though. This blog post, by Michael Cook, explains why he does things very different. Instead of the Mardi Gras mentality of over-indulgence before Lent; he commits to a time of fasting as part of the Orthodox Church community.

Instead of partaking in the over consumption of turkey he chooses to drink deeply in the spiritual, prayer & worship as the main course.

While I probably won’t follow in his fasting, I can share in his desire to walk through this season with a heart of contentment rather than the one the worlds bids me to partake in.

I will conclude with a few of his words:

A drastic and intentional move away from consumption and consumerism towards compassion and contentedness.  Self denial.  Learning to be content with what is, instead of what might be.  Happiness with what you have, instead of with what you want.  Being able to say no to the things of the world, saying no to the compunction for owning things, and trading them all in, for a season – a 40 day journey – of learning to be content.  Content to be with God.  I have said it once before, but for the Orthodox Christian: “Fasting is Feasting!”