Fasting.

How many of us have "fasted?" What do we mean by fasting and what is it we hope to accomplish by doing it? We skip a meal and use our normal eating time to pray. Usually that means asking God for something. I guess personally I've always viewed that as, "Look God, I'm giving up my 'right' to food, now give me what I want." Clearly this is a huge misconception. And maybe you've never felt that way. Maybe your motives have been pure. I guess I've never been exactly sure what fasting is all about. Whenever I've fasted before (which is not very often mind you) I've always felt too "hungry," or too "tired," or too "distracted" to pray. Really pray. Get down on hands and knees completely humbled kind of pray. Not cool. But today I'm fasting. And let me tell you why. 925 million people do not have enough to eat (http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats.) And so today, I'm taking the day to try to understand what hunger feels like. Really feels like. The lack of energy and the gnawing ache of a tummy that says, "Feed me!" Now, I don't claim to really know the pain and discomfort of true hunger. I will eat again. I will eat again tomorrow in fact. But many people won't. In a society where we celebrate overabundance and wastefulness, I think it's good to stop, if only for one day, and remember the struggles of those in need and try to make some common ground. So I encourage you to stop for a moment and say a prayer for all those hungry tummies in the world. And the next time your tummy rumbles, remember how blessed you truly are to be able to simply reach into the pantry and grab something yummy to subside the "hunger."