Starving, Fasting, Hoping

Ramadan begins today, and this morning I came across this most downer headline: Somali famine refugees begin Ramadan fast. After reading the article I am touched by the determined faith of the drought refugees. During this time when many must feel completely abandoned by God, and by the world for that matter, one refugee highlighted in the article notes that famine is "a fast without reward," while observing Ramadan is a fast "inspired by God." Creating space for hope in the most dire of circumstances is truly greater than observing any religious tradition. Yet how awesome and inspiring is it that keeping the fast of Ramadan while suffering the harsh refugee camp life might provide some comfort and solace?

I am reminded of the influential work by Auschwitz survivor Victor Fankl, Man's Search for Meaning, in which he introduces the notion of "logotherapy," or existential therapy. Frankl's experience in the concentration camp brought him to ponder why he maintained a will to live while for others (understandably!) life lost all its meaning amidst the horrors of the Holocaust. Roughly, existential therapy posits that seeking meaning in life is the single most motivating force in human experience. I could not agree more. While existentialism played a significant role in the Catholic imagination during the twentieth century (most famously by French philosopher Gabriel Marcel), my personal imagination has been overwhelmingly informed by a "will to meaning." I see this search for meaning as the fundamental unifier in all human experience--regardless of dogma, ethics or privilege, all humans create some sort of system of meaning to which they ascribe their very being. The form might be in answer to the question, "Why are we here?" or may be a directly inherited system of meaning, such as a religion, a political agenda, a moral understanding. For example, the Golden Rule or the concept of karma might deeply influence how one sees oneself, sees others, sees the world. This is truly the meat of my interest in spirituality, which I have previously defined as the relationship with self, others, and God, especially regarding making meaning of the human experience.

The article on Somali refugees entering Ramadan quotes AU Commission Deputy Chairperson Erastus Mwencha, who instructs that "Around the globe, everyone must dig deep into their pockets to rescue the people of Somalia from the abyss they find themselves staring into." If there's to be any hope in that abyss, its meaning can be found by God's inspiration, as lived out in the aid given by us.


Want to give? Here are some links:

http://www.arcrelief.org/site/PageServer

http://crs.org/somalia/partners.cfm

http://www.irusa.org/countries/somalia/

Hi Faith, Meet Justice.

I've written about fasting here before, but as it the season of Lent I stumbled upon something that is uniquely fitting and totally inspiring. The Washington Association of Churches (the WAC) is calling for folks to participate in their fast during Holy Week, April 18-22. The WAC isn't fasting in observance of Holy Week, however. The organization is gathering folks to participate in the fast as physical protest and witness to the Washington State budget plan. Following the example of extremely influential champions of justice such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela (not to mention JC), the WAC describes the fast as having "great spiritual power."

Not into fasting? That's cool too. The WAC offers several ways to join in the protest, from going to the state capitol in Olympia and fasting in community, to simply taking 20-30 minutes to reach out to state legislators and voice concern. Whatever action you take, you can register with the WAC and let them know you are in solidarity with the marginalized Washingtonians that are most greatly impacted by state budget cuts--the homeless, the sick, the hungry, the elderly and the children. This earns some major points in my book for Washington state religious communities.

Statement of Intent

This project begins as an adventure, a challenge I have taken up as millions of Christians worldwide begin to observe the season of Lent. Lent is Latin for “spring,” as in the season in which life sprouts, blossoms, hatches, emerges forth. However, most Americans—Christians and non-Christians alike—are more familiar with the idea that Lent is a time for abstaining. No eating meat on Fridays, give up chocolate or alcohol or swearing, sit and think about what you’ve done. That may sound harsh, but I have to wonder if it’s really so unlike “spring cleaning,” perhaps on a spiritual scale? A yearly organizing of the spiritual house, what stays and what is give-away, what needs to be deep-cleaned or replaced, brought out or put away. Fasting does not quite connote the same sense of betterment that spring cleaning might. But fasting is certainly not unique to Christianity—in Islam the month of Ramadan is devoted to fasting, and Hollywood, Oprah, and the Cosmo Girl all recently embraced the Acai Berry detox diet. I once read that fasting is about giving up something you love (sweets, for example) for something you love more (translate as “God”). Spiritually speaking, this makes sense—every time I refrain from eating meat on Friday, I am subtly reminded that this is because it is Lent, which is God’s time. On the other hand, fasting literally means not consuming, and I am enraptured with the spiritual implications of this.

In this space I seek to engage several questions raised by not consuming during Lent. What connections can be made between Lenten fasting and me as an American consumer? What do I consume? What might abstinence mean spiritually? How does consuming and/or fasting shape my spirituality? My reflections will be primarily based on my own experience as a …
twenty-six year old
Caucasian
Roman Catholic
American
woman
heterosexual
non-handicapped person
upper-middle class lady
current resident of the Pacific Northwest
graduate student.
(Mouthful). I will also be digesting several resources I have consumed for this project, mainly within the area of religion and the media. These will be added as “resources” throughout. Finally, I have included below a glossary of terms which includes a couple general definitions of the key words I will be using. This is in part so I will not be caught up in semantics, attempting to be clear about what I do and do not mean with each entry, wasting breath, screen space, straining further your eyes; but also this is because I find the general definitions best serve my purpose of exploration—I have no interest in using this blog as a soap box to preach my personal conclusions as universal truths. Rather, I seek to explore my own agency of choice as a consumer of media. I choose to read NYTimes.com, I do not choose the stories featured or the images highlighted ... so, what do I choose to ingest and act upon? What does this mean for my relationship with myself, with others, with God?

My hope is that these entries provoke thought, invite meditation, and honor both my own experience and the Divine Mystery …

GLOSSARY OF TERMS:

“media”: the actual or principal means of mass communication, such as the newspaper, the radio and the television. (Jolyon Mitchell)

“popular culture”: those commercially-produced items specifically associated with leisure, the mass media, and lifestyle choices that people consume. (Lynn Schofield Clark)

“spirituality”: relationship with self, others, God, especially regarding making meaning of the human experience.

RESOURCES:

Jolyon Mitchell, ed. Media Violence and Christian Ethics (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007)

Jolyon Mitchell and S. Brent Plate, editors, The Religion and Film Reader (New York: Routeledge, 2007)

Gordon Lynch, ed. Between Sacred and Profane: Researching Religion and Popular Culture (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2007)