蘑菇短视频

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Richard Reddie.

Good morning.

Several years ago, I decided that Wednesdays would be the day I would fast, which meant I would abstain from solid food for that entire day. Many holy books and self-help manuals explore fasting, which for some is one of the ways of getting closer to the divine, or a means of improving yourself physically or emotionally.

I chose to fast on Wednesdays because it was the middle day of the week, and as such seemed the ideal day to reflect on how the week had gone thus far, as well as to equip myself spiritually for the remaining few days.

As anyone who has fasted knows, abstaining from food is never easy. So much of our lives is taken up by food. I used to spend my Wednesdays focusing too much on the food from which I was supposedly abstaining, and not enough on the reasons for my fast.

As I began to reflect on my decision to fast, Jesus鈥� words, 鈥淭he spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,鈥� would often come to mind. After a while, I came to the conclusion that no one was asking me to fast. I had decided to do so because it seemed like a good idea.

There are lots of things we do in life that seem like a good idea at the time. A key aspect of fasting is reflecting, and irrespective of whether we are fasting, we need to reassess our 鈥榞ood ideas鈥� to see if they are helping or hindering our development.

Let us use today to reflect on those things we need to embrace, and conversely, those matters we need to let go.

Amen

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