But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. — Matthew 6:17-18
It has been a while since I have posted a comic from Pithless Thoughts. But, the comic above catches so nicely one of the challenges of Great Lent. Let’s face it, the different Orthodox jurisdictions have slightly different fasting rules. On top of that, there is plenty of room in the USA for economia (latitude in observance) to be applied to the fasting rules. More than that, there is the reality that many people do not even fast more than on a minimal level. Then there is the argument as to whether there is a difference between monastic fasting and “cathedral” fasting. (Note: If you are not Orthodox, you are now somewhat lost.)
All these differences of opinion on fasting produce what the military would call the “fog of war.” This means that once a battle starts, the details are often unclear. The term itself comes from a time of muzzle loaders and front loading canons and black powder. When those types of weapons are discharged, smoke is also produced. Get enough of them going, and a literal wall of smoke blocked field commanders from a clear view of their situation. It is no surprise that this was named the “fog of war.”
We are in a spiritual war. It is in the enemy’s interest to use the “fog of war” to obscure his aims and motives. And, it is certainly his aim to get Christians to judge one another. What better way to have this happen than when the existing regulations are not uniform, are not uniformly enforced, and are subject to significant latitude. Very quickly, person begins to judge person and righteousness becomes a matter of purely outward observance.
That is why the right way to carry out the fast is to ignore your neighbor completely as his/her practice of fasting. Any other option is likely to produce judgmentalism, legalism, and self-righteousness.
Yep, Pithless Thoughts nails it again.
I don’t even like the casual conversation about fasting, label-reading, recipes, and whatnot that occurs at coffee hour among converts. (“Don’t like” is putting it mildly. It irritates me kind of big-time.) It seems benign, but it often ends up with subtle undertones of judgment. It can go unnoticed that someone listening to the conversation, who may have little experience so far with fasting, silently worries about how something they hear may reflect on their own practice. And there’s also the bragging, subtle but present nonetheless, that’s inherent whenever we talk about how we fast. The whole thing boils down to an immature, Orthodoxy-as-boutique-religion-with-cool-hobby-aspects vibe.
And see? I’m judging.
Meanwhile, many of the most important lenten instructions the Church gives us are completely off our radars. I think we yak about fasting because it’s easy and distracts us from the hard stuff.
Stella: Bingo!