A Christian at Ramadan

[Guest guest]

A Christian at Ramadan

Mario Tosto

 

This is the month of Ramadan, the annual

Islamic period devoted to study, reflection,

charitable acts, and fasting. Since Islam

and Christianity share wellsprings of

spirituality, I, as a Christian, ask myself

how can I join in fellowship with these

pilgrims and worship God more?

 

My focus settles on Ramadan's central

element of fasting: "O ye who believe!

Fasting is prescribed to you as it was

prescribed to those before you, that ye may

(learn) self-restraint" [Qur'an 2:183 (Yusif

Ali English Translation)].

 

 

Somehow I always

see a need to learn

more

"self-restraint!"

 

 

 

 

As I understand it, the intent of such

fasting is not to induce hardship or

discomfort, but to help adherents turn

away from a materialistic satiating of the

physical body, and reorient them toward

spirituality, a realm beyond the physical

and home of the perfect and divine.

 

This is consonant with my own priorities as

a spiritual seeker. The spiritual self-care

called for by Ramadan isn't confined to one

religious sect, or to any one time of year.

 

But Ramadan reminds me to check on my

own present priorities and tendencies.

(Somehow I always see a need to learn

more "self-restraint!") Am I letting the

body's demands for comfort, pleasure, and

ease dominate my life, dulling my spiritual

sensibilities, clouding my appreciation of

God's love and care? Am I letting

circumstance, age, or even heredity

convince me that I am not God's

handiwork, and therefore am subject to

limitation and debility? Am I allowing my

self-image to be shaped by selfishness,

sensuality, and greed?

 

I've found that to the extent that I

minimize materiality in my thought, I

experience less limitation, better health,

and more harmonious relationships. I also

feel it makes me a better spiritual healer.

(Jesus once chided his disciples for failing

to heal a sick child because they needed

more "prayer and fasting.")

 

And yet I know from past experience that if

I don't monitor the state of my thought,

the prevailing materialistic headwinds of

the world will subtly deflect me from my

spiritual goal. Limitation of all sorts will

seem more real than the freedom and

peace natural to a God-made being.

 

So, not only as a gesture of fellowship, but

because it's good for me, I'm going to

observe my own version of Ramadan. While

I won't fast from food on the same rigorous

schedule or to the same degree as my one

billion Islamic neighbors, I will make an

extra effort to restrain materialism in my

thought and practice this month --

including cutting back on shopping and

perhaps even on the type and quantity of

food I eat. My goal is to fast from

materiality and feast more on God's

presence -- to be a better person, a better

healer, a better Christian.

 

These passages teach self-restraint:

 

The Holy Bible:

Mark 9:17-29