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Fasting And The Body
by
Ron Lagerquist
Some are reluctant to discuss the physiology of fasting for fear of
compromising spiritual focus. Or conversely, the secular-health industry
goes into great scientific detail about fasting’s miraculous healing ability
while vaguely and often wrongly mentioning its spiritual work. This book
will attempt to address both in a balanced way. We will parallel the
harmonious blessing fasting has on the whole you, body,
soul and spirit.
You may
ask, do we not fast for the sole purpose of drawing closer to God?
Sounds spiritual, but I think the Church often forgets that the
ministry of Christ is to the whole person. Jesus touched all forms of
infirmity: sick body with the hands of a Healer, wounded soul with words of
freedom, and barren spirit with living waters of life. All made new on
every level of human need.
Years
ago, before I began studying fasting’s effect on the body, I had a vague
understanding about why people fasted. Ironically, it wasn’t until I began
studying fasting’s work on the body that the deeper spiritual nature of
fasting open up to me. The greatest surprise was how perfectly fitted this
antique tool is for our modern times, holding greater impact on human need
than any time in history. The toxic long list the body, mind and spirit
must now confront today is overwhelming. Pollutants in food, air and water
are obvious. Busyness, media and addiction are less obvious but no less
toxic to the spirit.
Not to
give undo emphasis but right at the outset, I want to clear up most people’s
nasty first impressions that fasting is somehow bad or dangerous. In fact,
it is quit the reverse.
Law
Of Reaping
When you
begin to strip the complications of living down to the bare bone, its
amazing how starkly accountable we become for the circumstances we find
ourselves in, all because of this simple little principle. There is an
inescapable law that governs all living things. It determines who you are
today and what you will become tomorrow. It is the law of reaping and
sowing. Today’s blessings or sorrows are more about reaping what you have
been sowing over the last years than helpless fate. There is little luck
involved. Tomorrow will be the product of the decisions you sow today.
This law governs the physical and spiritual realms, the body, mind and
spirit and cannot be truer when it comes to health.
We are
victims of ourselves. Sow unhealthy eating—reap hardening of the arteries,
high blood pressure, 30 pounds of excess body fat, weakness, premature
aging, even cancer. Sow five hours a week running and biking—reap energy
into older life, mental clarity, lean body, lower blood pressure and
possible years of healthy old age. A simple law legislating itself on the
very cells of our body.
Fifty
percent of all North Americans are sick and obese and it is getting worse
every year. Despite the advances made in medical science, cancer, heart
disease, high-blood pressure and diabetes are exploding out of control. The
modern life-style only deepens the problem of emptiness and depression by
producing a destructive cycle of feeding cravings and starving the spirit.
This cycle dulls the five senses, stripping us of vitality and energy,
disconnected from a vibrant world. The effect is similar to going deaf,
forced to increase the volume to a level of damage. More fat, salt, and
sugar are needed for the same emotional lift, until every cell groans under
the burden of toxic build-up.
God has
created food to enhance the working of our body while man has reinvented
food to create dependence and addiction. After ingesting millions of empty
calories our body forgets what it is like to feel youthful and energetic,
bouncing out of bed after a good nights sleep. The sluggish feeling becomes
a normal state and since everyone around is feeling the same way, rundown
health becomes the standard.
The good
news is the body has an astounding capacity to heal and cleanse, even
reverse aging, given the right conditions. In fact, your body has a
built-in command to heal and cleanse. And one of the quickest ways to give
the body an opportunity to fulfill that command is through fasting.
Many of
you have had a bad first introduction to fasting. Although there is a vague
knowledge that fasting is good; after all, Jesus fasted; first
impressions have been less than favorable. Even a few hours without food
can cause headaches and discomfort. Tongue turns yellow, breath becomes
foul, weakness and dizziness set in, and confirming what you already
suspected—fasting is undesirable, even dangerous!
In
talking to people about fasting, I have discovered that many have tried to
fast at least for a day. The consequences were usually described as "bad."
Some are so afraid of such negative initial reactions that they fear missing
even one meal, not realizing that this is the body loudly stating its need
to fast. A need to detoxify years of bad eating resulting in restored
health. |
detoxification, healing, colon