Sometimes things get so bad that you really don't know what to say or do. When that happens, it's a good time to fast and pray. Now, it's always a good time for fasting and praying -- especially during Lent, which begins this week. But sometimes, the practices of fasting and prayer feel more urgent -- which is how things feel to me right now.
I believe our nation is in deep trouble. And it appears most Americans also feel that way, with a large majority being very unhappy with the direction of their country. Long-time senators are leaving public office, naming the dysfunction of a system where politics has replaced getting anything done, and where constant campaigning has replaced any commitment to find solutions to our most pressing problems. Everything in Washington now is about winning or losing the next election, not about working together to serve the people who elected you. Veteran members of Congress tell me that while their legislative bodies have always been far from perfect, the atmosphere on Capitol Hill is now more vitriolic and toxic than anyone can remember, with every disagreement becoming an attack on an opponent's character or patriotism.
Health insurance is still a critical need for the tens of millions of Americans who don't have it; but the politicians in Washington can't get health-care reform done. Comprehensive immigration reform is a crying issue of social justice for millions of our most poor and vulnerable families; but it may not even come up in Congress this session, for fear of unleashing a demagoguery that would make the battle over health care look tame. Enormous debts and deficits keep piling up, and a bipartisan commission to try to solve the deficit threat to future generations was just rejected -- because it was bipartisan.
The most pressing issue on Main Street, America, is jobs, but the focus on Wall Street is billions of dollars in bonuses being paid to top bank executives. The risky and greedy behavior of a handful of huge Wall Street banks brought on the financial crisis that led to this deep recession. Then they used taxpayer bailout money to make themselves rich again, and are now passing out the shameful rewards to their top executives while one of every two workers in my hometown of Detroit is looking for a job. And it looks like the big banks are going to get away with it; they will pay enough money in campaign contributions to members of Congress to prevent themselves from being regulated for the common good.
Then there are those endless wars, with endless casualties and endless time frames. Both parties and successive White Houses have become trapped into a primarily military response to the real threats of terrorism. So here is the metric of success: Are we killing more terrorists than the number of new ones who are being recruited? We all know the answer to that is no, and that we are losing ground every day; but nobody in Washington is allowed to ask what would be the best policies to keep more people from becoming terrorists in the first place. The math of terrorism is against us.
In response to all these deep and deepening troubles, I find it very difficult to really know what to say or do, except to continue to struggle against all the bad things that are happening. How do we clarify the issues? How do we offer an alternative vision? How do we change the direction of our country, which is leading us to more confusion, pain, and suffering? How do we get political leaders (and even religious leaders) on opposite sides of the partisan aisle to really talk to one another? How do we find a more civil and moral tone for our national discourse? In seeking answers to those and other more personal questions, I have decided to fast and pray.
Fasting is intended to cleanse the body, clear the mind, create some time and space, nourish the spirit, and focus the heart. Prayer is for confession, repentance, turning back to God, and asking for both discernment and courage.
During the first Gulf War in 1991, I experienced similar feelings and decided to fast only on liquids for the forty days of Lent. Though strenuous, that fast brought clarity, focus, and direction for me. Of course, Jesus taught us not to fast to impress others (Matthew 6:16-18), and each of us must privately discern our motivations for such an undertaking. But hunger strikes and public fasting have served as powerful and prophetic witnesses in spiritually-based social movements throughout history, and fasting with others can provide much-needed encouragement and accountability.
This time, my wife Joy and I have decided to do a "Daniel Fast," a tradition stemming from that biblical character's 21-day fast -- eating only fruits and vegetables with no meat, dairy, grains or starch, coffee, tea, or alcohol. Again, it promises to be rigorous, but with promised benefits for our bodies, minds, and souls. And of course, fasting is intended to create more space for new and deeper disciplines of prayer during the season of Lent, which we will also enter into.
I have also decided to invite other religious leaders and clergy, students and young people, and other people of faith (or no faith) who also feel so led, to fast for clarity and direction in this Lenten season, hoping that we can support one another and perhaps find some common discernment about the way forward. Together we might fast and pray for wisdom, truth, and love at this moment of national and global crisis. If you feel the same kind of need, lament, and emptiness I do, I humbly invite you to fast and pray in your own ways, with disciplines appropriate for your own life and situation. This is not a campaign; it is a prayerful fast inviting all who feel called to such an action.
There are times when we come to the end of our own resources and must throw ourselves on God -- which is really always our true spiritual state, despite the illusions of our own self-sufficiency. And it is the very turning away from our own devices, opinions, and strength -- and turning to God once again -- that is the best way back to finding ourselves, our voices, and our missions. That is my prayer for us all this Lent.
Jim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street -- A Moral Compass for the New Economy, CEO of Sojourners and blogs at www.godspolitics.com.
Follow Jim Wallis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jimwallis
And in this case the best "blaster" to use in solving our current problems is the application of reason and sound logic. At a time when, more than ever, we as citizens need to reject any dogmatic beliefs or suspect ideologies that hinder our political progress, it's more than a little ironic that your big suggestion is to "fast and pray."
Might I humbly suggest that a better use of one's time and energies might go into the study of developing good critical thinking skills? I'd start with Carl Sagan's landmark book "The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark."
There's no more revelatory process than that of examining one's own beliefs for signs of illogic, prejudice and hypocrisy. And the better we get at applying our BS detectors to ourselves, the better we'll be at identifying political charlatans and demagogues (Glenn Beck!) and not being swayed by fear and paranoia when it's used to pervert our political discourse and distract us from the truth.
"Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense. " -- Carl Sagan
I would add politics to that list as well.
The Native Americans practiced their religion here for centuries without it causing problems, then the white man and their greed appeared and the rest is history.
I'll bet that the people who ended up as human sacrifices to the aztec god probably felt like there were problems, just for one example of why you are wrong about that.
In MLK's essay "God Is Able" he describes the first 25 years of his life as untroubled with loving and supportive parents and a pleasant life through college, grad school and seminary. He first confronted conflict when he became part of the leadership at Montgomery .
He began to receive death threats and the frequency and viciousness of the calls caused him fear:
"I was ready to give up.I tried to think of a way to move out of the picture without appearing a coward. In this state of exhaustion, when my courage had almost gone, I determined to take my problem to God. My head in my hands I bowed over the kitchen table and prayed aloud :
'...I am at the end of my powers.I have nothing left.I've come to the point where I can't face it alone'
At that moment I experienced the presence of the Divine as I had never before experienced him....my fears passed from me, my uncertainty dissappeared. I was ready to face anything.The outer situation remained the same but God had given me the inner calm.
Three nights later our home was bombed. Strangely enough I accepted the word of the bombing calmly. I knew now that God is able to give us the interior resources to face the storms and problems of life"
"Strength To Love"
Sermon on the mount:
6:5 And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for
they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the
streets, that they may be seen of men. Truthfully I say unto you, They
have their reward.
6:6 But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have
shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your
Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.
What I heard Mr. Wallis suggesting was that people engage in some disciplines that would bring people's awareness to possibly a higher level. God did make all of us, including our miraculous brains. And prayer and fasting can be a great way to clean house, as it were, and help us think more clearly and problem solve more effectively.
I may be misrepresenting Mr. Wallis with what I'm about to say, and he may certainly set me straight if that is the case, but I don't think he is suggesting here that we all fast and pray so God will make everything ok. What I read is that he is inviting people to join in for a period, with whatever level of fasting/prayer that works for them, as a way of getting clearer as to what action we each need to take to work towards some real solutions and to rally the courage of our convictions. I, for one, have come to accept that God is not one to intervene and fix our messes. But I do believe that God is with me always as support and strength. We all need to realize that we all are part of any solution.,....or not.
Going within and taking action without are not mutually exclusive.One does both. The point of going within is to understand what is the right action in response to external concerns; whatever they may be.
Whosoever will let him . . . for he that believes is (a believer). . . and he that believes not is (not) . . .
GOD does not need the acceptance and approval of temporal man . . .
...and vice-versa.
We have always been number one in starting wars and killing people all over the world but what is different now is the distress here at home which makes us more uncomfortable about our wars of Empire and how much they cost. As long as the economy here at home was good we didn't really care how much we spent on invasions and mass killings overseas. I wish religion was a force for good but from what I have seen it has done more harm than good.
My funds are running out as well,, and after all this time off I believe losing a little weight isn't the worst thing that could come of it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,good luck with yours..
Although I don't expect Industry lobbyists to stop feeding my senate representative..
You think maybe the miracle might be to get us more unemployment,,, well ok I'm now fasting for Mitch McConnell of Ky,,, well lets call it a hunger strike,,,,,,,,,,,,c'mon Mitch!!!
Time for people to wake up from their opiate-induced sleep, in my opinion.