Spiritual fasting as a turning towards partnership

Thinking about the practice of spiritual fasting this morning.

"Fasting requires self-control and discipline, as one denies the natural desires of the flesh. During spiritual fasting, the believer's focus is removed from the physical things of this world and intensely concentrated on God." ~ Mary Fairchild

I generally have tended to think about fasting from food as an expression of turning to God and away from food for a time, good in and of itself, and considered even better when it is "done with a purpose", a petition for help for self or others, in mind.  But Fairchild's statement has me thinking about the principle of fasting as it relates to a broader definition of that turning.

Fasting from food reminds me of my own physical weakness and dependency upon God's creation of this world and its resources for my very life; my own weakness in comparison to the power of a wondrous, life-giving, loving, and amazing God.  It can direct my feelings of hunger into awareness of my own dependence upon Him and the world He created for us, and, hopefully,  therefore,  encourages me towards grateful and more earnest communication with Him.  And, seeking that communication, I may gain spiritual clarity of thought. 

That leads me to believe that, though we often talk about "fasting with a purpose",  and tend to think of it as a method to employ while petitioning God for a particular and important need or hope to be fulfilled, spiritual fasting is not simply a way to express gratitude, or to earn God's favor, or to increase the likelihood that He will do something, for us or someone else. Rather, the purpose of fasting is to produce a transformation in us—a clearer, more focused attention and dependence upon God.  Thus, my more focused attention to, and grateful communication with God while fasting can help me to hear God's voice more clearly on those very subjects that are on my mind and in my heart.  And as I do so, that attention moves our communication away from "petitioner to grantor" (I need this, please make it happen) and into "partners" (here is what is possible, and what we each can do) in the work of the Lord near me.

Clearly, food is not the only thing which, if I fast from it, can help me in my efforts to turn my heart and mind to God.  At this point in my life, after decades of regular spiritual fasts from food, fasting from food is fairly easy and familiar.  What's harder for me at this stage of my life?  Fasting from time spent online.  Sobering.

Furthermore, fasting, it seems, is more than abstinence from something, which abstinence is hopefully practiced with God in mind. 

Isaiah wrote "Is this not the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? That thou sees the naked, that thou cover him: and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?"  (Isaiah 58:6-7)

We have a tradition, when we engage in a spiritual fast, of donating "fast offerings"; funds to be used by churches or other institutions to aid others who struggle with one or more of the burdens and needs that Isaiah wrote about.

It occurs to me that it would be wise for me to not only make such donations with those Isaiah verses in mind, but, as I communicate with God during a spiritual fast (be it a fast from food or from anything else), to also seek from Him the courage, heart, will, and information He may give me in order to not only donate funds, but also to be able to recognize, by His spirit, the moments or times in the coming days when I am personally in a position to act in a way that furthers what Isaiah wrote about and to do so.

For a hesitant, homebody person like me who finds solitude peaceful, asking to be able to see those moments or times and to act accordingly feels daunting.  But if I remember that our Father and I are partners in whatever He indicates in the days that follow such a seeking and seeing, rather than us being just petitioner and grantor, that helps. A lot.

The phrase “cut off from” in the Old Testament

 There it was again, in Proverbs 2:22: “But the wicked shall be cut off”, in this case, cut off from the earth.  Other verses in the Bible say things like “from among this people” , or just “cut off”.  So what does it mean?

From https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/1946/what-does-the-old-testament-phrase-cut-off-from-their-people-mean

we find this answer, which is rather interesting.

“according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kareth:

The Hebrew term kareth ("cutting off" Hebrew: כָּרֵת‎, [kaˈret]) is a form of punishment for sin ... In the Talmud, kareth means not necessarily physical "cutting off" of life, but extinction of the soul and denial of a share in the world to come. ... 

In the Hebrew Bible, kareth is a form of punishment which may mean premature death, or else exclusion from the people.[3][4] According to Richard C. Steiner, the phrase "to be cut off from one's people" is an antonym for "to be gathered to one's people" (e.g. Genesis 25:8), and thus kareth in the Bible means to be deprived of the afterlife.[5]
Examples of sins making a person liable to kareth include eating chametz on Passover,[6] sexual violations,[7] ritual impurities, and a man's refusal to be circumcised.[8] The Book of Numbers states that anyone who sins deliberately or high-handedly receives kareth.

Rabbinic interpretation:

Kareth is the punishment for certain crimes and offences defined under Jewish law (e.g. eating the life blood of a living animal, eating suet, refusing to be circumcised, etc.), a punishment that can only be given at the hand of heaven unto persons of the Jewish faith who are bound to keep the Jewish law, rather than made punishable by any earthly court. In some cases of sexual misconduct and in breaking the laws of the Sabbath, such as where there are witnesses of the act, the court is able to inflict punishment. By definition, kareth does not apply to non-Jews. Kareth can either mean dying young (before the age of 50 or 60[10]), dying without children, or the soul being spiritually "cut off" from your people after death.[11] According to Nachmanides, both definitions are accurate.

You can look up the footnotes on that website.

One thing that intrigues me in that definition is the possible definition of  “being spiritually cut off from your people after death”.  In an LDS perspective that might be seen as a reference to the division between prison and paradise in the post mortal/pre-resurrection life, or to the (grossly oversimplified) understanding of post-resurrection life.  I tend to think it fits better with what the scriptures say about the former than what they say about the latter.  

This phrase, “cut off” comes up in Leviticus a number of times when a particular sin is mentioned, with the immediately following verse stating that sin is punishable by death. Some tend to think that this means that being “cut off” means being killed.  I tend, rather, to think that they are two separate consequences, not the same consequence being stated twice.  The Rabbinic interpretation seems to support that; referring to being “cut off”  as a consequence that comes from heavenly action or the eternal power of God, not a physical consequence carried out by humans on earth who are trying to carry out His will in regards to consequences on earth.

C.S. Lewis, in one of his books, portrayed the misery of hell not as a fire and brimstone suffering, but instead as an existence typified by one’s antipathy, anger, bitterness, resentment, and one’s self-justfication for sin, which caused one to isolate oneself further and further (both physically and relationship-wise) from others and from God.  It strikes me as something to consider as a possible example of the essence of what the biblical references to “being cut off” might be referring to in the eternal scheme of things.

Gods (plural) in Abraham, chapter 4

 When I much was younger, I remember hearing all kinds of conjectures, all rather highly speculative and creative, about why that noun was plural in chapter 4.

The most reasonable explanation to me is this:  

Chapter 3 uses “the Lord” to refer to God.  Singular.  And describes His outlining of his plans to “the intelligences that were organized before the world was”.

At the end of chapter 3, the Lord asks who he should “send”, two volunteer, and the Lord chooses the first one, the one who, on earth, will be known as Jesus.

And then, as the creation starts, the use of plural, begins.  Why? Because now there are two involved in the creation of the world: The Father and that first one: the Son.

Why do I think that is the answer to the question about why plural appears here?  

Consider the opening verses of the Book of John, which speak of Jesus Christ’s intimate involvement in the creation of the world.  

Consider Jesus’ words later, in chapter 5 of the Book of John: “ Verily, truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does, the Son also does.”

And consider of the meaning of “Immanuel” by which name Jesus was called by both Isaiah and Matthew; “God with us.”

The God the Father and God the Son were working together in the creation outlined in Abraham chapter 4.  Plural.

I think that the reason for that plural is just that simple.

Talmadge on the topic of Hell and post mortal experience

 Traditional ideas about hell (and also purgatory) are all about punishment for sin, a punishment that God inflicts, and which punishment creates suffering.*   However, that is an earthly concept of the nature of authoritative response to sin or bad behavior.   We know that God is not earthly, He is heavenly, and though He may become angry when we indulge in destructive and/or heard-hearted sin, He is not vindictive. Vindictive behavior is contrary to the very nature of heaven.   In reality, the suffering in "hell" is not God-inflicted, it is the natural, logical consequences of sin.

 

Sin in our lives, for which we are unrepentant, does cause us to experience suffering whether we currently are in this life or in the next.  Sometimes it is the suffering of remorse when we recognize our sin.  Sometimes it is the suffering of the natural consequences of that sin.  Sometimes it is the suffering that comes when justice is meted out.   And all of those kinds of suffering are what is referred to when we speak of suffering for sin in the life after this one, as well as in this life.

 

It is important to remember that each of those different kinds of suffering ultimately causes us to experience enough distress to make us reconsider what we have done, what the consequences have been, and whether we wish to continue embracing our sin, or instead, repent and change, look to Christ, embrace the gift of His atonement, and live.

 

Sometimes our recognition of sin is quick and so our repentance is quick, and our embracing of the atonement of Christ is quick, and the release from suffering comes soon. Sometimes our learning to recognize sin is quick but our wanting to repent is slow, and so we delay our repentance and our embracing of the atonement of Christ.  And sometimes our learning to recognize our sins is slow, and so our repentance is delayed.  In the latter two cases, the suffering continues longer.  But always, in this life, and the next, whether the process of learning to recognize, repent and embrace Christ and his atonement for us is quick or slow, God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ are always reaching out to us to help us turn our hearts to repentance and to them, and to their rest.

 

And everyone of us will eventually come to understand that about them, and decide if we wish to continue as we are, or repent, and embrace the Atonement that Jesus offers us, to end our suffering that comes from our sins.  He can provide that because He made Atonement for our sins on our behalf. And all of us will understand that offer (Romans 14:11) and decide whether or not to repent.

 

So what does that mean for us if we have committed sin in this life for which we have not been able to repent, and we find ourselves in the next life, experiencing the suffering we have brought upon ourselves because of our sin?   (This is what is commonly referred to experiencing hell or spirit prison)

 

In reference to that: James E. Talmadge wrote: "During this hundred years (since the Restoration of the Church) many other great truths not known before, have been declared to the people, and one of the greatest is that to hell there is an exit as well as an entrance. Hell is no place to which a vindictive judge sends prisoners to suffer and to be punished principally for his glory; but it is a place prepared for the teaching, the disciplining of those who failed to learn here upon the earth what they should have learned. True, we read of everlasting punishment, unending suffering, eternal damnation. That is a direful expression; but in his mercy the Lord has made plain what those words mean. “Eternal punishment,” he says, is God’s punishment, for he is eternal; and that condition or state or possibility will ever exist for the sinner who deserves and really needs such condemnation; but this does not mean that the individual sufferer or sinner is to be eternally and everlastingly made to endure and suffer. No man will be kept in hell longer than is necessary to bring him to a fitness for something better. When he reaches that stage the prison doors will open and there will be rejoicing among the hosts who welcome him into a better state. The Lord has not abated in the least what he has said in earlier dispensations concerning the operation of his law and his gospel, but he has made clear unto us his goodness and mercy through it all, for it is his glory and his work to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man."

Elder James E. Talmage, Conference Report, April 1930, 

See also 2 Nephi 26:24

 

We cannot atone for our own sins, no matter how much we suffer.  In contrast, the Atonement of Christ "begins to work the day you ask" and will "[restore} what you cannot restore, [heal] the wound you cannot heal, [and fix] that which you broke and you cannot fix".    

Boyd K. Packer, "Washed Clean", Ensign May 1997, p.9

                            "The Brilliant Morning of Forgiveness", Ensign, November 1995, p.18

 

This promise of release from the suffering that our sins have brought upon us (and upon others) is made possible through the atonement of Christ. It is a promise to each of us, whether we are recognizing our mistakes and sins in this life or the next.

 

Whether in this life, or the next, as we turn to Him, sorrowful over what we have done, changing our hearts and actions, and seeking forgiveness and release, we find the promised relief, hope, love, peace and vision which his atoning sacrifice makes possible for us.

 

That is one of the reasons He came.  That is one of the ways he saves us.

* For an interesting history of the Christian tradition of purgatory: click here.