What a poor, benighted age we live in! How we deny ourselves all sauces but the best. How little of what surrounds us is ever offered either by use or abstinence. And there is the secret. Fasting is an offering, too. The dieter says: Sweets are bad; I cannot have them ever. The faster says: Sweets are good; I will not take them now. The dieter is condemned to bitter bondage, to a life which dares not let food in. But the faster is a person preparing for a feast. Lent leads to an Easter, and to mirth and weight of glory.
I ran across these words attributed to Robert Farrar Capon during one of my research projects. My guess is that they are from his classic book The Supper of the Lamb, though I couldn't guarantee it.
This a great admonition for me as I enter this season of Lent, a time traditionally defined by what we are giving up, what we are sacrificing, what we are depriving ourselves. And I suppose there is a place for that in our thinking. It is a season of reflection and mindfulness, and nothing makes me more mindful than not having that one thing that is my habit to enjoy, that gives me pleasure. But perhaps this year at least, I will remember that Lent is a time of preparation, not deprivation. I am, this year, a faster preparing for a feast.
4 comments:
What a great quote!
Fasting in preparation for the feast of Easter is one of the most voluptuous enjoyments I have. Seriously, I consciously had to make myself wait until today to begin my fasts this year. Lent, while a season of fasting, is also such a time of explosive spiritual growth for me that I can hardly wait for it to begin every year.
Does anyone else anticipate Lent in this way?
I'm not sure I'd refer to it as a voluptuous enjoyment, but I would say that I enjoy lent for it's impact on daily living and interaction. In my (mostly catholic) high school, lent was held as a time specifically set aside for outward signs of devotion and everybody understood and appreciated that within the community. For me, what distinguishes a lenten fast from a common fast is that you do it together as a community.
Okay, so "voluptuous enjoyment" was a tad hyperbolic. It is pretty exciting, though.
I like your point about fasting together in community, Chris. It seems to me that there is something really special about fasting together, as a people, in anticipation of the high point of the Christian year-- the celebration of the resurrection. Without the resurrection, the church would not exist, and so it seems only fitting that we anticipate and celebrate it together, as a community.
For this Lent, I'm giving up second guessing and beating myself up. There will be no feasts on Sundays because I imagine I need the full forty days to break this habit!
-- Ardeth H
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