Why do we eat?

SOME REMARKS ON FASTING by Fr. Stephen Freeman:

…. I have seen greater good accomplished in souls through their failure in the fasting season than in the souls of those who “fasted well.” Publicans enter the kingdom of God before Pharisees pretty much every time.

Why do we fast? Perhaps the more germane question is “why do we eat?” Christ quoted Scripture to the evil one and said, “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” We eat as though our life depended on it and it does not. We fast because our life depends on the word of God.

I worked for a couple of years as a hospice chaplain. During that time, daily sitting at the side of the beds of dying patients—I learned a little about how we die. It is a medical fact that many people become “anorexic” before death—that is —they cease to want food. Many times family and even doctors become concerned and force food on a patient who will not survive. Interestingly, it was found that patients who became anorexic had less pain than those who having become anorexic were forced to take food. (None of this is about the psychological anorexia that afflicts many of our youth. That is a tragedy)

It is as though at death our bodies have a wisdom we have lacked for most of our lives. It knows that what it needs is not food—but something deeper. The soul seeks and hungers for the living God. The body and its pain become a distraction. And thus in God’s mercy the distraction is reduced…Why do we fast? We fast so that we may live like a dying man, and in dying we can be born to eternal life.

Read the whole article here.

7 thoughts on “Why do we eat?”

Interesting and thought-provoking! Thank you, GJ. LOVE.

LikeLike

Thank you for sharing the link to the whole article. Beautiful, and helpful.

LikeLike

A good piece. My husband went through this anorexic period right before he died. It’s as if the spirit knows it no longer needs this earthly food and prepares to depart. We do need to seek the living God more than our earthly food. Thanks, Gretchen.

LikeLike

Being born again guarantees eternal life. All mankind is dying physically everyday, while one born of the spirit is dying to self everyday. Jesus is the Bread of Life, and during a time of fasting a deeper hunger and need for HIm should stir. It should make one more humble. In a chosen fast, He is the only one that provides.

I appreciate the excerpts you include in your postings.

LikeLike

Dear Gretchen, This post warms my heart. I also hope that you are receiving the daily comfort that you need. Is there any chance that you will be at church next Sunday? I would like to come for the Sunday of Orthodoxy. Love, Christie

LikeLike

It also often happens (as noted in “Gone From My Sight”by B Karnes, RN)that 1 or 2 days or hrs prior to death there sometimes is a surge of energy. A favorite meal might be asked for and eaten when nothing had been eaten for days. The spiritual energy for transition from this world to the next has arrived and it is used for a time of physical expression before moving on.

LikeLike