"Simplicity is bracing and requires a certain spirit of adventure. Real spirituality involves some risk. For example, every spiritual tradition requires us to fast. Fasting has been recognized as a spiritual value for centuries. In our schema, this relates to the area of food, of course. To overcome fear and to increase awareness of our spiritual capacity we often profit from denying ourselves food. Fasting is not holy dieting and has nothing to do with losing weight. Fasting is more about this truth: if we have less, then we have more. So if we take less food, we have more capacity for spiritual hungering.
"Let me recommend this ancient discipline of fasting to you. Put your toes into the cold water. Fast once in a while. It's good for us physically and spiritually. Take the chance. It's a biological expression of your willingness to expose yourself to deprivation. Kierkegaard, the great philosopher, tells a story about geese. They flew long distances over open water and came to this barnyard. There they no longer had to search for food. They were very well fed. Some really ate their fill and became very fat. But when the time came for the return migration, the fat ones couldn't make it. They were so heavy they couldn't clear the barnyard fence. Only the less glutted ones were able to make the flight home. The meaning is clear for us. We just can't fly in life if we are too encumbered. And encumbrance takes many forms. We need a slimming down in the spirit so we can move with generosity and grace and sometimes speed."
