A long, long time ago, Walter Cronkite narrated the show, "The 20th Century". it opened with an instrumental version of Pachelbel's cannon. A music form that emulates the cannon battery of Napoleonic Europe. This song would soon become the meditational theme music for the "transcendental" movement in America, and throughout the world. In this movement, follower's fasted one day a week. 30 years later, I had friends who had followed this practice since it's introduction. Today, the worker ant researcher's of the Ivy League are crafting an "intermittent fasting" theology, that places human chemical marker's as the relevant elements of fasting, and misses by a mile, the truth of spiritual un-veiling of the spirit into the residence of the body. For shame, yet once again.
One of the themes of my opening night lecture for hundred of groups of supportive juice faster's, was that doing a fast opens the spirit, regardless of your purpose and intention's. In the Holy Bible, fasting is mentioned over a hundred times, meaning, water only, no water (Moses, Jesus, Indigenous vision quests), meditation and/or unceasing prayer. The Ten Commandment's include "Observing the Sabbath", which mean's upon Orthodox, to reformed Jew's a day of "no commerce". No alter plate, no praise and worship service, no automobile, no Wi--Fi, no electricity (hard to remember to turn off everything, and not good to turn off the refrigerator, Not what most American's consider a Sunday/Sabbath ceremony/ritual. Here is a thought. What if we attended our chosen place of worship, and then committed to 12 hours of true "off-the-grid-Sabbath". Just as "intermittent fasting" shows dependable benefit's, perchance half of fulfilling the Ten Commandments might well benefit both our bodies and our souls. I am going to place that as a pole question on our live podcast, and I think I will start this new observance of the Sabbath, either next week, or the week following. Let's just hope that the thief doesn't come to the door in the meantime. Join me at 8, this morning for our weekly gathering.
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