Fasting?!?!

At the vigil against the death penalty many people fast for the four days we are there. Many people don't. It is optional as is the severity of the fast. If you don't fast, don't eat around those who are fasting. If you are castigate it is up to you what that looks like. Some do a water only fast. Others are a liquid only. Some do the daylight fast, etc.

I had never fasted before last year's vigil. And I really wasn't sure I could do it. But, with my sister by my side, I decided to try it and see how long I would make it. I started on the all water but got too shaky and drank some juice for the sugar and that worked. This year I did the same thing. A glass of juice ob the morning and water the rest of the day.

On the Abolition Action Committee website (www.abolition.org) there is a page that talks about the fasting aspect. And I read it before I went. I found it very helpful. Here are two of the points I got from it:

Why? There are many reasons people have for fasting: spiritual, religious, health, and political. A common reason while taking part in a political action is that by forgoing food and not stopping to eat every few hours, we adjust our schedules to focus all our energy and time on our issue of concern. And it is a tough adjustment. I lost track of time since the day wasn't broken into before and after lunch and dinner. I didn't know how to greet people (and was often wrong) in saying good morning or have a good afternoon/evening.

Difficulty: dwelling on the fact that you aren't eating or are hungry. To deny yourself food or the thoughts about it is somehow to make it stronger so that is all you think about. So it is suggested to think about for a bit and then to consciously refocus your thoughts on why you are there and doing what you're doing. In my day to day when I get hungry I start to get cranky if I know that food is not on the way. And I would find that to be true at first during the fast, until I turned my thoughts to why I was there. It kept my spirits up knowing that I was in solidarity with ao many others against the death penalty. It also continued for weeks after...when I got hungry I remembered those on death row and sent up a prayer.

It is amazing how wired we are to food. I woke up ready for breakfast and would be a little hummed when I remembered I wasn't eating. I would be holding up a banner and think that as soon as I got relieved by someone I could go grab a snack. Or during our evening teachings I would think that as soon as it was over we could go get dinner. Oh, wait. Not happening yet...