I know fasting is having a moment in the health industry,
Abstaining from food for certain hours to alleviate certain conditions or ease some conditions.
But fasting.
Has been a practice in many religious traditions.
And some religions will fast for the daylight hours and then eat only at night.
Others will take a day every month to fast.
And then maybe others will.
Fast from meat.
During Lent.
And this is kind of that recognition of how attached we are to certain patterns and behaviors.
And how we may be ignoring.
Some of our brothers and sisters who might be suffering.
Just taking a look,
Taking a little closer look at.
Maybe those patterns and seeing how we can free them up within us.
And so Isaiah kind of points to this.
So we're going to use Isaiah to lead us into our Lectio.
So be sure to get yourself comfortable.
Maybe turn off your notifications.
Go into a sacred space or just a maybe comfortable space in your in your home.
Make sure you're comfortable and.
You can breathe deeply.
Lots of times we.
Don't breathe deeply enough because our chests are constricted.
Our shoulders are too wound up.
With the burdens of the world.
And see if we can take a deep breath and expand,
Just feel your collarbones just spreading wide apart.
Feeling your shoulder blades just maybe aim to touch behind you.
And raise your steranum high.
And then just allowing the breath to just fall,
Soften.
And continue to take these deep breaths,
Just expanding the lungs from all sides,
The front,
The sides and the back.
And you can sigh it out or you can just gently.
Whisper and exhale.
And keep doing so as I kind of explain the practice.
So the first time I'm going to read it,
It's a rendering that you might have heard before,
But it's a paraphrase of Isaiah 58.
Six through eight.
So that way we hear it for the first time and just listen closely.
And then The second time we hear it,
You might feel a word or phrase that kind of resonates with you and you kind of.
Keep that within you.
For a few moments.
And then the third is kind of like a starting point of a prayer.
And then I'll leave you with a few moments to.
See if anything responds.
In a loving way.
So let's begin.
This is Isaiah 58,
Six through eight.
Is this not the fast I have chosen?
Not hunger you perform.
But the loosening of what binds.
Every chain of injustice undone.
Every yoke lifted from weary shoulders.
Every debt of oppression released.
Is it not this?
To break your bread with the one who is hungry.
To open your door to the wanderer without a home.
To clothe the one sharing the cold and not turn your face from the one who is your own flesh.
Do this.
And your light will break open like the dawn.
Your healing will rise like new skin over the wound.
Your wholeness will walk ahead of you and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard before you and behind you,
Surrounding you on every side.
Let those words kind of sink down into you.
So no judgment.
So as we hear the words again,
C of A.
A word or a phrase or an image arises from deep within you.
Is this not the fast I have chosen?
Not hunger you perform,
But the loosening of what binds.
Every chain of injustice undone,
Every yoke lifted from weary shoulders,
Every debt of impression released.
Is it not this?
To break your bread with the one who is hungry.
Do open your door to the wanderer without a home.
To gloat the one shivering in the cold.
And not to turn your face from the one who is your own flesh.
Do this and your light will break open like the dawn.
Your healing will rise like new skin over the wound.
Your wholeness will walk ahead of you.
And the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Before you,
Behind you.
Surrounding you on every side.
So what image?
What word?
What feeling arises in you and just sit with that for a few moments.
Just remember,
This is personal,
So there's no right or wrong.
As you receive these words for a third time.
Let them inspire a prayer or a conversation.
With God.
Is this not the fast I have chosen?
Not hunger you perform,
But the loosening of what binds.
Every chain of injustice undone.
Every yoke lifted from weary shoulders.
Every debt of oppression released.
Is it not this?
To break your bread with the one who is hungry.
Do open your door to the wanderer without a home.
To clothe the one shivering in the cold.
And not to turn your face from the one who is your own flesh.
Do this.
And your light will break open like the dawn.
Your healing will rise like new skin over the wound.
Your wholeness will walk ahead of you.
And the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard before you and behind you.
Surrounding you on every side.
And what would you like to say to God?
When you hear this.
So now I give you a few moments to rest in these words.
To let God maybe respond to your prayer.
And remember that that response might not come as a word or an actual voice.
It might come as an image.
Of feeling.
But what's most important is for you to kind of fall back on the words and let them just kind of be your comfort.
And if you find yourself straying,
And your ego,
Inserting itself,
Return to those words,
That phrase,
Or that image that held you.
To help you return.
So if your mind is strayed.
And bring it back to that word or phrase.
And just remember.
The loving God.
Who is with you at all times.
We may think we can hide.
But how beautiful it is when we.
Return.
How beautiful it is to just rest in God's loving arms,
Knowing that God is with us with every step.
Every breath.
And we've been still for a little while,
So it's always a good idea to kind of Move your torso,
Just some subtle twists.
Maybe move your head,
Your neck back and forth,
Your head back and forth,
Your chin back and forth.
And then take another deep breath in and sigh it out.
If your eyes are closed,
You can allow some light in too.
Your visual space.
Maybe place your hands onto the floor or your chair to remind you that this is your life here and now.
And you can take a few moments to maybe write down.
How this experience was for you,
Maybe in can reflect on the images or words that spoke to you the most.
And then maybe return to them a little bit later in the day or tomorrow.
Because sometimes we get hints of what God is saying to us.
But we are still getting in our own way.
So that's going to take a little bit of time.
But remember that God is patient with us.
And so wherever you are in the world,
Take care.
And remember that God's love is embracing you right here in this moment.
