This is actually my first year observing lent. This year I decided to fast from Facebook. With my health it is rather difficult to fast from food but the idea of fasting is there and it has been a thought I have had in mind over the years. I have pondered the spiritual benefits of fasting and in our day and age I believe Social Media outlets can become just as much a form of a god as food can be and it can rule our lives just as powerfully as food can. If you're anything like me you have missed a meal or have forgotten to eat something while skimming down the page to see who posted what. To be honest I really don't miss it that much but lest I forget the reason why I chose to give up Facebook for lent.
Why fast from Facebook?
Is there any particular significance?
First, I'd like to give you a little history regarding lent. It is arguable that lent has its origins in the Roman Catholic church yet there are mainline conservative evangelical church who will observe lent. Lent can be described as a special time, a time set apart in the year to prayer and penance, sacrifice and good works in preparation in the celebration of Easter. I decided to research and google lent and this is what I found, Catholic Education Resource Center, it says this, "In the desire to renew the liturgical practices of the church, the constitution on the sacred liturgy of Vatican Counsel II stated, 'the two elements which are especially characteristic of lent -- the recalling of Baptism or the preparation for it, and penance -- should be given greater emphasis in the liturgy and in liturgical catechesis. It is by means of them that the church prepares the faithful for the celebration of Easter, while they hear God's word more frequently and devote more time to prayer... it was Pope St Leo (d. 461) preached the faithful must fulfill with their fasts the Apostolic institution of the 40 days." The number 40 is a significant number... just to point out a few verses in scripture you can look up if you're at all interested... Exodus 34:28, 1 Kings 19:8, and most importantly in the New Testament we see Jesus fasted 40 days in the wilderness Matthew 4:2.
I mean, just stuffin yourself silly with pancakes and it being the only time in the year where you don't have to feel guilty when it comes to gluttony. The other day I was at this meeting and it just so happened to be Shrove Tuesday and so this guy in the group and mentioned that him and his wife were going out for pancakes later on that evening. He really didn't no why pancakes of all foods. I said, well Lent probably has its origins in the Roman Catholic church, I can only assume that to be true and one thing I know is that Catholics tend to do interesting things with food and fasting. I then told him of a conversation I once had with my Grandmother, a devout Roman Catholic. I remember it was on a Friday I decided to drop by and visit my Grandparents. It was a ritual of mine to skip a class at high school just to lengthen my lunch hour and run over to my Grandparents who lived across from my high school and have lunch with them.
Let me tell you when Norwegians have lunch it's usually a very large roast beef dinner with all the fixins and you feel like you're having a Christmas dinner or something and since my Nana and Grandpa Peder lived in Norway I had a pretty good excuse to skip school when they were visiting. The visit always seemed short so we found ways to savor the time spent....
That day visiting my Grandparents my lunch was a few pieces of lettuce with a little bit of shrimp... fish was OK, in fact, it has become a Catholic tradition to eat fish on fasting friday and if not fish then some type of seafood other than actual meat that had to bleed in order to feed you. It wasn't really the food that drew me to visit my Grandparents anyhow. My Grandmother in some ways was like a mother to me. In fact, the closest thing to a mother I'll ever know. I loved visiting with my Grandmother because I could talk and somebody listened to me and somebody heard me... it was a far cry from what I felt at home.... often times feeling neglected or forgotten about until I did something wrong....
right... fasting day fish friday :)
At this particular time in my life, I was about 18 and really inquisitive of the Roman Catholic faith. Something has always drawn me towards the Roman Catholic faith / tradition and I was faithful at that time in a Pentecostal tradition and wondered about the differences between Catholic tradition and Protestant tradition. I was well schooled on the Protestant history of the Reformation but despite the fact of growing up at times submerged in Roman Catholic tradition either by being spiritually submerged or culturally submerged... there is a certain kind of culture that exists within Catholic families that may not be fully understood by those who have not grown up Catholic or at the very least surrounded by Catholic tradition. Some questions I never thought to question like, why did we always eat fish on Friday? OK so what does this have to do with Shrove Tuesday? There is actually a very good connection with lent and the customary fasting on Fridays. Good Friday was the day that Jesus was nailed to the cross and crucified and Ash Wednesday is the day we begin to prepare our hearts for what is to come. The cross is central to the Christian faith, we're called in scripture to be like Jesus, to deny ourselves, to pick up our cross daily, to be a living sacrifice, to give back all of who we are to our God and Savior. Fasting has always been in a sense dieing to self and growing in self control and discipline along with cultivating a heart of penance or in some traditions we say repentance... how do we repent? We repent by penance, a physical act of turning away from sin and turning towards our God and making the choice to worship Him instead of ourselves or whatever else there might be that seeks the attention we should be giving to our God. So I asked my Grandmother why don't we eat meat on Fridays... Shrove Tuesday was all about stuffin ourselves silly with pancakes but week after week when Friday rolled around came the usual day of fasting... at the very least, withholding from ourselves meat. I was surprised, I mean very surprised at my Grandmother's response and I'll never forget it because it was painfully honest on her part but so painfully honest and just so ironic that I just had to laugh! It was a moment we both kinda giggled because we both knew it wasn't the response I was prepared to hear. Her response was, "Well, it is either fasting meat or doing a good deed... and right now I couldn't be bothered by doing a good deed" ... OK, so extending grace towards my Grandmother, she was this tiny old frail little lady who could barely lift 10 pounds and it was so painful watching my Grandmother try to pour herself a cup of tea that I stayed long enough to make her tea, wash the dishes, and sit and chat with a Grandma I really loved and well putting up with me was more than her fare share of good deeds. In my early years I was hell on wheals and somehow she put up with me and dealt with me, once she took a broom to my behind but I ran passed her so fast I nearly knocked her over so hitting me in the behind probably kept her from falling down.... lol but like I said, taking care of me was more than her fare share of good deeds, she deserved the rest and deserved people serving her. Looking back, I believe this was the last conversation I had with her before she passed away. What I grew to love about my Grandmother is the fact that she wasn't perfect, she knew what it meant to surrender herself to the Lord, she knew what it meant to reckon with struggles and difficulty beyond her control, she knew what it meant to persevere in faith when it seemed like the tide turned against her. She knew what it meant to trust in the Lord for and in His goodness and in and for His mercy and in and for His peace when there was nothing but turmoil. Her faithfulness to her faith and her faithfulness to her husband, my Grandfather, is evidence of this. I witnessed my Grandparents renew their wedding vows at their 50th wedding anniversary. My Grandfather was so used to serving and taking care of my Grandmother that by the time my Grandmother passed away he really didn't know what to do with himself... I can say that by their 50th wedding anniversary they understood marriage in a way they perhaps hadn't seen in years past. Anyways, that's enough of my Grandparents... back to lent !
So I made the decision to fast from Facebook and so far pretty darn good... there were a couple of moments I spent a briefly on Facebook responding to necessary items having to do with real life not social media life. I wanted to fast from Facebook because Facebook can be the place it becomes easy to encourage our narcissistic tendency towards self worship or even the worship of others... this would be called idolatry. Relationships and friendships are important but they are made outside and beyond Facebook. I wanted to replace the time I'd spend on Facebook to look up and outward towards those around me and towards my current friends and the community in which I live and instead of sending off a text message via Facebook to my sister I could make the extra effort to call instead... that is if she'd were to actually answer her phone ;) she certainly has her hands full with two little girls at home, my two beautiful nieces... I have a few beautiful nieces and a few handsome nephews... I have a few sisters and a brother, a few of my sisters have babies and my brother has his hands full with his 3 kids as well... all very beautiful, all smart, each one very unique in their own personhood... there is a very real diverse mix of personalities, interests, and ways of seeing life and it is a beautiful thing when we in our family can look beyond our differences and love one another still.
This is certainly a time I am not only fasting from Facebook but pondering relationships God's way and really just taking a season out of my life to cultivate in my heart a truer understanding of what it means to have had my Lord and Savior take upon Himself my sin and my brokenness and to come to a deeper and more fuller understanding of this great exchange... the cross is central to the Christian faith, it is there that Jesus took upon Himself my sin and without death there wouldn't be no resurrection.
Often times, especially in charismatic circles people want to rush past our crucified Lord and Savior but do we understand that our resurrected King of Kings and Lord of Lords had to first die?
Why fast from Facebook?
Is there any particular significance?
First, I'd like to give you a little history regarding lent. It is arguable that lent has its origins in the Roman Catholic church yet there are mainline conservative evangelical church who will observe lent. Lent can be described as a special time, a time set apart in the year to prayer and penance, sacrifice and good works in preparation in the celebration of Easter. I decided to research and google lent and this is what I found, Catholic Education Resource Center, it says this, "In the desire to renew the liturgical practices of the church, the constitution on the sacred liturgy of Vatican Counsel II stated, 'the two elements which are especially characteristic of lent -- the recalling of Baptism or the preparation for it, and penance -- should be given greater emphasis in the liturgy and in liturgical catechesis. It is by means of them that the church prepares the faithful for the celebration of Easter, while they hear God's word more frequently and devote more time to prayer... it was Pope St Leo (d. 461) preached the faithful must fulfill with their fasts the Apostolic institution of the 40 days." The number 40 is a significant number... just to point out a few verses in scripture you can look up if you're at all interested... Exodus 34:28, 1 Kings 19:8, and most importantly in the New Testament we see Jesus fasted 40 days in the wilderness Matthew 4:2.
Shrove Tuesday is also commonly observed as well. Many actually go out and eat pancakes to their hearts content! I can get used to that!
I mean, just stuffin yourself silly with pancakes and it being the only time in the year where you don't have to feel guilty when it comes to gluttony. The other day I was at this meeting and it just so happened to be Shrove Tuesday and so this guy in the group and mentioned that him and his wife were going out for pancakes later on that evening. He really didn't no why pancakes of all foods. I said, well Lent probably has its origins in the Roman Catholic church, I can only assume that to be true and one thing I know is that Catholics tend to do interesting things with food and fasting. I then told him of a conversation I once had with my Grandmother, a devout Roman Catholic. I remember it was on a Friday I decided to drop by and visit my Grandparents. It was a ritual of mine to skip a class at high school just to lengthen my lunch hour and run over to my Grandparents who lived across from my high school and have lunch with them.
If I didn't skip class to lengthen my lunch hour with my Grandparents it usually meant that my Nana and Grandpa Peder were visiting from Norway.
Let me tell you when Norwegians have lunch it's usually a very large roast beef dinner with all the fixins and you feel like you're having a Christmas dinner or something and since my Nana and Grandpa Peder lived in Norway I had a pretty good excuse to skip school when they were visiting. The visit always seemed short so we found ways to savor the time spent....
...anyways, back to my devout Roman Catholic Grandmother, this one Friday afternoon I had been visiting my Grandparents and for whatever reason I'd always forget that Friday was the day of fasting.
That day visiting my Grandparents my lunch was a few pieces of lettuce with a little bit of shrimp... fish was OK, in fact, it has become a Catholic tradition to eat fish on fasting friday and if not fish then some type of seafood other than actual meat that had to bleed in order to feed you. It wasn't really the food that drew me to visit my Grandparents anyhow. My Grandmother in some ways was like a mother to me. In fact, the closest thing to a mother I'll ever know. I loved visiting with my Grandmother because I could talk and somebody listened to me and somebody heard me... it was a far cry from what I felt at home.... often times feeling neglected or forgotten about until I did something wrong....
right... fasting day fish friday :)
At this particular time in my life, I was about 18 and really inquisitive of the Roman Catholic faith. Something has always drawn me towards the Roman Catholic faith / tradition and I was faithful at that time in a Pentecostal tradition and wondered about the differences between Catholic tradition and Protestant tradition. I was well schooled on the Protestant history of the Reformation but despite the fact of growing up at times submerged in Roman Catholic tradition either by being spiritually submerged or culturally submerged... there is a certain kind of culture that exists within Catholic families that may not be fully understood by those who have not grown up Catholic or at the very least surrounded by Catholic tradition. Some questions I never thought to question like, why did we always eat fish on Friday? OK so what does this have to do with Shrove Tuesday? There is actually a very good connection with lent and the customary fasting on Fridays. Good Friday was the day that Jesus was nailed to the cross and crucified and Ash Wednesday is the day we begin to prepare our hearts for what is to come. The cross is central to the Christian faith, we're called in scripture to be like Jesus, to deny ourselves, to pick up our cross daily, to be a living sacrifice, to give back all of who we are to our God and Savior. Fasting has always been in a sense dieing to self and growing in self control and discipline along with cultivating a heart of penance or in some traditions we say repentance... how do we repent? We repent by penance, a physical act of turning away from sin and turning towards our God and making the choice to worship Him instead of ourselves or whatever else there might be that seeks the attention we should be giving to our God. So I asked my Grandmother why don't we eat meat on Fridays... Shrove Tuesday was all about stuffin ourselves silly with pancakes but week after week when Friday rolled around came the usual day of fasting... at the very least, withholding from ourselves meat. I was surprised, I mean very surprised at my Grandmother's response and I'll never forget it because it was painfully honest on her part but so painfully honest and just so ironic that I just had to laugh! It was a moment we both kinda giggled because we both knew it wasn't the response I was prepared to hear. Her response was, "Well, it is either fasting meat or doing a good deed... and right now I couldn't be bothered by doing a good deed" ... OK, so extending grace towards my Grandmother, she was this tiny old frail little lady who could barely lift 10 pounds and it was so painful watching my Grandmother try to pour herself a cup of tea that I stayed long enough to make her tea, wash the dishes, and sit and chat with a Grandma I really loved and well putting up with me was more than her fare share of good deeds. In my early years I was hell on wheals and somehow she put up with me and dealt with me, once she took a broom to my behind but I ran passed her so fast I nearly knocked her over so hitting me in the behind probably kept her from falling down.... lol but like I said, taking care of me was more than her fare share of good deeds, she deserved the rest and deserved people serving her. Looking back, I believe this was the last conversation I had with her before she passed away. What I grew to love about my Grandmother is the fact that she wasn't perfect, she knew what it meant to surrender herself to the Lord, she knew what it meant to reckon with struggles and difficulty beyond her control, she knew what it meant to persevere in faith when it seemed like the tide turned against her. She knew what it meant to trust in the Lord for and in His goodness and in and for His mercy and in and for His peace when there was nothing but turmoil. Her faithfulness to her faith and her faithfulness to her husband, my Grandfather, is evidence of this. I witnessed my Grandparents renew their wedding vows at their 50th wedding anniversary. My Grandfather was so used to serving and taking care of my Grandmother that by the time my Grandmother passed away he really didn't know what to do with himself... I can say that by their 50th wedding anniversary they understood marriage in a way they perhaps hadn't seen in years past. Anyways, that's enough of my Grandparents... back to lent !
So I made the decision to fast from Facebook and so far pretty darn good... there were a couple of moments I spent a briefly on Facebook responding to necessary items having to do with real life not social media life. I wanted to fast from Facebook because Facebook can be the place it becomes easy to encourage our narcissistic tendency towards self worship or even the worship of others... this would be called idolatry. Relationships and friendships are important but they are made outside and beyond Facebook. I wanted to replace the time I'd spend on Facebook to look up and outward towards those around me and towards my current friends and the community in which I live and instead of sending off a text message via Facebook to my sister I could make the extra effort to call instead... that is if she'd were to actually answer her phone ;) she certainly has her hands full with two little girls at home, my two beautiful nieces... I have a few beautiful nieces and a few handsome nephews... I have a few sisters and a brother, a few of my sisters have babies and my brother has his hands full with his 3 kids as well... all very beautiful, all smart, each one very unique in their own personhood... there is a very real diverse mix of personalities, interests, and ways of seeing life and it is a beautiful thing when we in our family can look beyond our differences and love one another still.
This is certainly a time I am not only fasting from Facebook but pondering relationships God's way and really just taking a season out of my life to cultivate in my heart a truer understanding of what it means to have had my Lord and Savior take upon Himself my sin and my brokenness and to come to a deeper and more fuller understanding of this great exchange... the cross is central to the Christian faith, it is there that Jesus took upon Himself my sin and without death there wouldn't be no resurrection.
Often times, especially in charismatic circles people want to rush past our crucified Lord and Savior but do we understand that our resurrected King of Kings and Lord of Lords had to first die?
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