Fasting: A Shared Tradition

Fasting: A Shared Tradition -- Jennifer Walters, Dean of Religious Life
Community Iftar, Carroll Room, Smith College
Sunday, October 23, 2005

A salaam alaikum.

Last summer I went to a beautiful place. Manitoulin is said to be the largest freshwater island in the world. It is located well off the north-central shores of Lake Huron in Ontario, Canada in the waters and among the islands of the mighty Great Lakes. Manitoulin's very name means "place of the sacred powers of the Manitous” – the Great Spirits of the Native American spiritual tradition.

It is a place that is financially poor, but spiritually rich. The Anishinaabeg people (also known as the Ojibway) have lived on Manitoulin for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. The tribal communities on the island remain strong to this day.

There is a place there known as Dreamer's Rock. It is on the Birch Island Reserve of Manitoulin. For many generations young adults of the Anishinaabeg have gone there to fast and pray, to receive a dream vision for their life's direction. They are prepared by their elders to receive whatever comes to them. They might receive a guardian spirit in a quest there or there might be silence. Dreamers' Rock was known as the path of the Animkeeg, Thunderbirds, because it is on that rock that thunder sounds loudest on the island. It was a traditional meeting place, as well as a sacred site. Fasting – experiencing hunger – has been a primary element in becoming able to receive spiritual gifts at Dreamer’s Rock.

Most of the world’s religious traditions teach fasting. In this Month of Practice – Ramadan --
Muslims throughout the world fast from the sun’s rising to its setting to commemorate the revealing of the Qur’an to the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). It is also a time of renewal, a time to read the Qur’an from beginning to end.

This year Ramadan and the Jewish high holidays began at the same time. And during this time there is also feasting and fasting in both communities.

The name "Yom Kippur" means "Day of Atonement. It is a day set aside to "afflict the soul," to atone for the sins of the past year. Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath; no work, no washing, can be performed on that day and Jews are instructed to refrain from eating and drinking (even water) on Yom Kippur. Fasting helps a Jew to come back into right relationship with his or her body, mind, soul, community, and God.

Jesus, too, fasted in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. It was a time, scriptures say, when he was tempted and tested by the devil. It was a key experience in Jesus’ coming to understand himself, his mission, and his relationship to the Divine. After this time fasting in the wilderness, Jesus began his ministry in Galilee.

In each of these examples we see that fasting makes us humble, clears our minds, and makes us stronger. We are made of flesh. We cannot rely only on ourselves for life; we need other people; we need other creatures; we need God in order to live. We also need periods of reflection about our lives in order to live rightly.

Fasting literally purifies our bodies. It also helps us to become aware of the tenuousness of life. When your belly aches with hunger, with emptiness, it helps you to see what it is you really need to live well. And as your fast extends, you begin to learn what you can do without. The belly ache at 11 am the morning of the first day of fasting perhaps is not there until noon the next day. We are tempted to squelch the ache with food anyway because of the discomfort, but if we resist, we can learn something about ourselves. How much food do we really need to live? What do I have that I do not need? We all hunger together – for love, for peace, for safety. Fasting helps us to learn this. It can help us to want differently; to resist the pull of cultural messages to consume, to exploit others, to disrespect the earth.

Fasting helps us to live more deeply. It helps us to be mindful of our bodies; to experience hunger, temptation, to experience our “not being there yet” – our imperfection – and to develop discipline. The disciplines of kindness toward others, generosity, compassion, and peace – values of Islam – are considered in a deeper way when we fast.

We are all dreamers of one sort or another. We are all dreamers of a world in which no child goes hungry. Dreamers of a world in which people and nations solve their disagreements peacefully. Like the young people on Manitoulin, we too are looking for a vision for our lives. We each have our own dreamer’s rock – the way we dream a new vision for the world. This community Iftar – which includes people from many religions and philosophies of life, people who disagree about many things and agree about the important things, can come to support one another and to fast, pray, and eat.

That is a little taste of God’s dream for us. I wish you a blessed Ramadan.