In my
church we have an opportunity each month called
Fast Sunday. I have decided that Fast Sunday is not so fast. It is the week I get to put on the fake smile so as not to
appear to be fasting. As I might have been fasting today, these are some thoughts that I might have had:
*I think I am going to diagnosed myself with hypoglycemia. It just so happens that some Fast Sundays don't work out very well for me. During testimony meeting all the sudden I feel very weak. When my heart is pounding and I want to go up and bear my testimony, I'm scared that it is too far up to the pulpit when I feel that way! Maybe I need to skip the fasting some months so I can bear my testimony more often. Oh and PMS, fasting and hypoglycemia DON'T make for a very spiritual experience!
*This is the one Sunday a month when people wonder if I have laryngitis because I am afraid to talk to them and assault them with my less-than-fresh breath.
*Am I breaking my fast if I chew gum and/or suck on breath mints? After all I am not
really swallowing...
*I know that my teeth are a lot cleaner on Fast Sunday because I like to brush longer. The taste of the toothpaste when I am soooo hungry is way too irresistible. Just swish that water a few minutes longer...Oh yeah! Do I have to spit it out?
*Fast Sunday taught me to love broccoli because once as a child I was sitting in Sacrament thinking about how hungry I was. I told myself that I was indeed hungry enough that I would eat broccoli. Broccoli was my least favorite vegetable but quickly became edible to me that week. It is now one of my favorite! Blessing in disguise.
*I get sooooo hungry in church that when the bread and water are passed, I have to suppress the urge to pick the largest bread and fullest water. But I do savor every bit! I have to also suppress the urge to lick my fingers and lick out the sacrament cup .
*Today I took care of a kid in primary who had a sippy cup. It just had water in it but I wanted so bad to borrow it from him, just for one swig!
*If you are sitting around the table for dinner after breaking your fast, do not invite Brooklyn to say the blessing on the food. You may end up adding another 10 minutes to your fast! Oh and if you are making chicken and dumplings for that long awaited dinner, make sure to check the date on the milk before you add it, so as to not be surprised by the strange taste that your said dinner took on. It must have been my cloudy thinking. (It was still good enough to eat. If we weren't all so hungry, it probably would have went to the dog.)
*I am grateful for the article on
Pip's blog about the good effects that fasting/starving have on your heart because by the time I have to fight all these challenges, I wonder if I have really fasted today or just starved. Now I know that both are good for me.
All joking aside, when you fast, does your thinking get cloudy and do you have a hard time thinking clearly enough to want to read your scriptures and pray. I thought it was the exact opposite but I just want to curl up in my bed and sleep. Is this normal, or the effects of low blood sugar? How do
you make Fast Sunday more of a spiritual experience for you?
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5 comments:
Like I said, It's been so long for me, I don't even remember what it's like to fast. I get hungry enough between breakfast and lunch that by the time I get home from church I just want to eat everything in sight. That dumpling soup with sour milk would be good enough for me to eat on Sunday's after church, too.
It has been a long time for me, too. I do know from when I was younger (said with old lady voice because I'm so old now, you know) that the times when I fasted without a purpose it really did just feel like starvation, and that's really all it is if there's no purpose. If I really intently prayed and fasted with a purpose (because fasting should always be accompanied with prayer), I wouldn't feel as hungry. Not to say I wouldn't feel hungry at all, but it just didn't seem as bad. (But this is all easy for me to say when I'm not actually fasting.)
Your comment about the prayer reminded me of how fast Sunday was in my house growing up. We had a family tradition on fast Sundays of allowing anyone who wanted to pray have a turn before eating, so not just one person would say the blessing on the food. We would always have our kneeling family prayers at dinner time, but on fast Sundays it was worse because we'd kneel for a long time waiting to eat as both of my parents, as well as anyone else who wanted to (which when I was young usually included me, probably not making my older, hungry siblings very happy) would pray. Talk about extending your fasting time! I do think it's important to pray and end your fast before breaking your fast, but I think it should be done privately. But then how do you teach that to children? Well, anyway...
Good night! :-)
After a 10 year childbearing fasting sabbatical, I have now been fasting for abt. 2 years. It isn't easy and I don't have any tips, but I'd like to know how to teach it to the kids. It is so hard for them. I am always so grateful when the thing they are fasting for comes to pass. It seems to give a boost of confidence that their sacrifices are helping someone.
I always love break"fast," I've got that mastered!
why do they call it fasting? It seems to go so slowy to me. I think I will start saying I'm "cold tarring" each time I fast. Also, when I am done, it seems I actually am hungry enough to eat cold tar.
I never remember to fast unless we're doing a special fast for someone, and sometimes even THEN I forget. We just wake up and start eating breakfast and then an hour or so later we're smacking our foreheads.
I hate how bad my breath smells on Fast Sunday.
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