Davis Fast For A Day

Today the city of Davis was encouraged to fast in solidarity with the Muslim community, culminating in this evening’s Iftar celebration at the Davis Senior Center. About 500 people were in attendance, a chaotic mix of voices and colors, ages, languages, starting with dates and milk and ending with baklava and almond pastries.

I fasted. I don’t do this very often; the last time I did was for Yom Kippur a few years ago. It draws you inward, making you slightly apart from the world. I went for a walk at lunchtime, enjoying the day; I felt a little misted. It’s hard to describe.

People whose tradition calls on them to fast regularly speak of this apartness, how it’s an important part of their spirituality. I can see how that would be.

Fasting has kind of gone away in Christianity, at least in the earnest form being practiced this Ramadan by students in Davis. Maybe people miss a meal on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday but mostly not; “fasting and abstinence” implies some kind of food since abstaining from food should include abstaining from meat. I’m not sure where this went, or why, but it seems an important spiritual practice in most traditions, and gets you in touch with your core pretty quickly.

And then there’s the useful reminder that the majority of people in the world fast every day, not from choice…