Advent is not a happy time of year for many of us (unless we have a chocolate calendar..!). It’s too easy to spend it running about stressing over the Christmas shopping, sorting out the logistics of the Christmas holidays, trying to finish off our work before the end of the year whilst juggling parties, and all the while trying to think about Jesus and getting annoyed at all the Jesus-free commercial tat all over everything. And then Christmas happens, and it’s all over on boxing day. Maybe it’s time we took a step back and observed advent as a season of its own, before the 12-day long feast that is (or should be!) Christmas??
As part of the Seeding Change campaign we’ve been thinking a lot about how food is connected to our spirituality, as well as thinking of it as a justice issue. Advent is a major fast season in the traditional church calendar, and it gives us a great chance to take a breather and reconnect with ourselves, our needs, our weaknesses and our potential, and our relationship with Jesus, a chance to live simply and change our mindsets before the celebrations of Christmas, when hopefully we can feast, have fun and have our physical needs fully met as we celebrate Jesus stepping into our world with us. It’s 24 days, so it’s probably not a good idea to give up all food for that whole period; but why not join us in fasting in one of the following ways through Advent and giving time to working on getting to know Jesus more, maybe with friends so you can share your experiences?
• Giving up something you depend on too much (caffeine, your car, alcohol, the internet, electricity..?!)
• Going barefoot (health permitting)
• Going veggie/vegan
• Living on less than £1 a day for food and drink
• Eating simply – maybe just vegetable soup, or plain dahl and chappatis for main meals?
• Buy nothing (except gifts for others?) – maybe live off skipped and foraged food, or only buy the fresh fruit and veg you REALLY need and nothing else, living out of what you already have in your kitchen?
• Give up supermarkets
• Buy only local/organic/animal-friendly/fairly traded products
• Give up food and drink (apart from water) during daylight hours
• Keep a record of how much you spend on yourself and give away more than that
• Anything else you can think of!
Let us know how you’re fasting this Advent