The Daniel Fast

I am almost two weeks away from ending my Daniel Fast (Should I be marking the days on a cave wall? Is that healthy?) and I am really learning about myself and the world around me through it. Here is what I think I have learned and how it is helping me grow.

• I am learning that I have not built healthy economies around me to be someone who is more vegan or vegetarian. My wife has made this so easy that I cannot imagine doing it without her creativity and ability as a great cook and partner.  
• I cannot do it without partners in solidarity. That not only involves the fearless Rev. Tracy Heilman but also my closest colleague and friend, Rev. Stacey Siebrasse. Just knowing there are others working on it makes all the difference in the world.  
• Coupling it with spiritual practices I already do is critical. It make me responsible and accountable to my own values and teaching. So watching Pollan's In Defense of Food and leading out discussion affirms and solidifies my commitment.
• I am more conscious of the materially poor. The fast reminds me that I have used food as a "jolt" throughout the day. I deal with the homeless on an ongoing basis as a local church pastor in downtown Billings. This has already made me a little bit more patient, a little bit more conscious that the people I encounter might not have the energy or life that is a convenience for me with ready access to food or a protein bar.
• I'm a little more tired. I'm a little less energetic. I have to be more meditatively conscious of my body and what I can and cannot do. Maybe I shouldn't be training to run a 5K at this time? Or maybe that's exactly what helps make me conscious of what I give my energy to? Reminding myself to be consciously good to myself is a mantra that is helping me to be healthy when I know there are people who consciously wish me ill. I have always taken that way deep into me without taking responsibility for another narrative.
• Food is energy. It is a luxury to have good taste, savor taste and texture, and not worry about where that will come from next.
• Learning I was Type 2 diabetic first, really helped me with all of this. I already knew I was a person of power when it came to food. This is affirming that.
• Finally . . . boy I am old. This fast makes me look a little more gaunt and shows up all the places on my face where I feel old.

So not perfect but I am learning. And it is my first time with an intentional fast with my intentional spirituality driving it. So onward we go.

Grace and peace,

Mike