Lisa and I have decided to embark on a 40-day journey of a juice fast.  A while ago I watched the film “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead” which shows the story of people who changed their lives by healing their bodies from the inside out.  

There is a spiritual dimension for me as well as physical.   The physical is easy.  I am overweight and have struggled to lose (and keep lost) about 50 lbs.  Carrying the extra weight has begun to really take its toll on my joints, sleeping and overall health.  I have done extended fasts before – so going without solid food for 40 days is not as much of the challenge.  The real challenge is the spiritual connections.

This fast will afford my body a rest, a break.  It’s a way to just disconnect from the pleasures and controls food has in my life.  I often don’t think about what I am going to eat…I just act!  And that is where gluttony comes in.  For me, the sins of gluttony are not about eating until you have to roll me down the road.  No, it is more in line with the definition: “the habitual greed or excess in eating”.   Habitual greed.   Those words grabbed my attention.   There are some bad habits I have allowed to take root in my life.  Food is more than social, more than pleasurable,  more than sustenance.  And since it sometimes can control my actions, it is time to finally take some action.  

I am thankful that Lisa has decided to take the journey with me.  This will make it easier for the times when I would feel left out of the dinner table because of a fast.  So we begin another sort of “Camino”. A walk towards better health.  A walk towards simplicity.   And that walk all begins with the first step…the decision to take action.

So -here we are, September 30, 2017.  I spent the last of this day eating, drinking and being merry.  But I am actually now more excited about putting it all away…and just taking a break from eating.  Just slowing down the pace.  Just taking steps to be more thoughtful about food and my relationship with it.   I hope to learn a lot about myself through this.    And I look forward to the changed man who will one day find freedom from “disordered passions”, who will hopefully find one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit….self control. 

Peace.