Lent 2014 – Devotion 2

What are you giving up for Lent? At one time the church promoted giving up meat on Fridays during Lent. That led to Friday fish dinners at many churches. We all know people who have given up chocolate for Lent, or sweets, or alcohol, or ice cream. Giving up something to do with food is a common practice for Lent. It is a modification of the spiritual discipline of fasting which may involve not eating for a period of time or significantly reduced consumption. Today, fasting may be more associated with having a blood test or other medical procedure done than with religion!

Food is an important part of life. It is something we are involved with every day. We are biologically constructed to need food on a regular basis. Other animals can go for long periods of time without eating. Bears and other animals hibernate in cold months and don’t eat for long stretches. We had snakes for pets at one time. They had to be fed live rodents. They were only fed every week or two – thank goodness! But we humans need to eat day in and day out and, ideally, several times a day.

This frequent need for food keeps us mindful of our bodies. It reminds us of how the earth so readily provides the food that we need. Eating numerous times a day brings to mind how much energy, time, land, and labor are needed to sustain us and what a large industry agriculture and food production is.

In addition, eating is associated with relationships and community. People often eat together. We get together for lunch. Families sit down together for dinner. In these shared moments of eating, intimacy and relationships develop. There is much more than taking in calories to food consumption.

A Lenten discipline involving food also has other implications. If we give up something we are used to eating on a regular basis, then we have an ongoing reminder that this is Lent, this is a time to reflect on our relationship with God and neighbor. A food discipline can be a persistent reminder of our faith commitments. It can make us think of the food scarcity and limitations that millions of people live with each and every day in our community and around the world.

So, while we may think of giving up sweets for Lent as something frivolous and insignificant, there may be more to it than we realize at first glance. What are you giving up for Lent? Is it food related? What are your feelings and insights about your experience as the season unfolds?

Prayer: Over and over we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” We are grateful that we have food daily, and that, for most of us, food is in abundance. May we be aware of our access to food and all who are involved in providing it for us. As the farmworkers march for fair food rights, we give thanks for those who pick our produce and pray for them to be treated with respect and dignity. May we appreciate all that food reveals to us about the sacredness and interconnectedness of life. May our Lenten discipline help us to appreciate all that we do have and that we are able to restrict our diets not out of necessity but out of choice. Amen.