Investigating Hunger

Feb 5th, 2021 | By Hannah Turner BK ‘23+.5

Pictured: Two intricately designed china bowls on a white background

24 hours. No social media.

I constantly find these challenges all over social media, ironically. To forgo prominent desires of our daily lives in pursuit of something else—to fast—seems like the new trend. Has online social interaction become a necessity to our modern lives? I’d say the answer is yes—yes, and maybe even as much as food.

The mental attachment to social media can be just as strong as our physical need for food. This attachment grows as a casual scroll through Instagram in the middle of the day becomes the primary motivation to wake up in the morning. Because of our increasing dependence on social media, engaging in a “social media detox” challenge can be considered fasting.

But what is fasting? Fasting is the purposeful denial of a physical necessity in order to attain greater spiritual clarity. The physical aspect of fasting is straightforward, and you can sacrifice anything from food to water to social interaction. Traditionally, fasting is abstinence from food; in a fast involving food, you temporarily surrender the nourishment required for physical sustenance.

Fasting has been a common Christian practice since the first century, though it might be somewhat intimidating to contemporary Christians, and it remains prominent in other Abrahamic traditions. I think of Jewish practices during Passover or Shavout, or the fasting of my Muslim friends during Ramadan. In these periods, the religious adherent understands that fasts affect more than their bodies––abstinence from food carries spiritual significance and can lead even to spiritual revelation.

This spiritual aspect of fasting challenges the common worldview that staunchly divides the physical and the spiritual.

The idea of the spiritual describes what is beyond the merely physical and emotional aspects of an individual’s life. The spiritual is distinct from what, as a Christian, I call the Holy Spirit: one of the three persons of God, whom I believe to be the indwelling presence of God in my life. From my point of view, the Spirit is very different from the spiritual. [1] But regardless of beliefs, everyone has a relationship with their spiritual self which can be explored and sharpened. The relationship between our body and spirit while fasting is clear: when fasting, we give up our physical desires to pursue deeper spiritual understanding and development. You can be simply searching for clarity, or, as in my case, to find yourself closer to God, the Creator of the universe.

Fasting carries unfamiliar religious overtones, but you might already fast in your everyday life. For example, you’re fundamentally fasting when you deny yourself that cup of coffee because you want to find a better source of energy. When you “quit” social media for a week, you are fasting, too. Though social media does not provide essential energy like food, it  instantly gratifies our desires for social interaction and so increases the release of dopamine in the brain. [2] Fasting from social media denies your brain that instant gratification and can offer spiritual revelation in the form of renewed energy, clarity, or greater closeness to God. 

… 

During the day, I spend over three hours on social media alone. My screen time has only increased during the pandemic. I give too much attention to the phone I carry around with me all day, everywhere I go.

So, my first fast was from social media. Before my abrupt week away from social media, I would spend hours on my phone consuming content. I could recognize the immediate but temporary joy I felt from logging into Instagram. Soon, social media’s comparison-drenched environment overwhelmed me to the point of physical exhaustion. I needed a break. I used the week I spent away from social media for reflection. After abruptly giving it up, I began to purify my love for social media by investigating why I felt the need to create and consume. At the end of the process, I was no longer exhausted and overwhelmed. Thinking about my relationship with social media made me think about my relationship with food. I thought maybe I needed to purify my love for that, too.

My second fast was from food. I fasted for three days. My primary concern in this fast was that food is a physical need. Food is life-giving: chemical bonds in my food are broken down to create ATP that fuels my body, and the things I eat keep my body functioning and strong. And, just as daunting,  fasting and I do not seem compatible at all: on average, I eat three meals a day, have snacks whenever I feel like it, and always drink a cup of coffee. 

The fast was difficult. I was hungriest at the beginning and at the end of my fast. The entire time, the knowledge that I was not eating loomed over me, and my stomach perpetually growled. I experienced moments of dizziness and had to sit down. However, I spent my time fasting from food with intentionality, being sure to seek the spiritual benefits of fasting by praying and reading the Christian scriptures. I learned about God’s character and about what He did for His people. I learned to prioritize my faith over my physical hunger. As a result, like after my social media fast, I was left more patient and empathetic, especially toward my family. I wasn’t trying harder to be more Christ-like––slower to anger, quicker to kindness––but seeking God through fasting naturally allowed for this change in character.

… 

Fasting is a test of will. It is also a test of priorities, and a chance for us to realize what is most nourishing to us. For me, fasting is also a test of faith. My fasts symbolized my relinquishing of control to God, who promises an enlightened, guided, and fully satisfied life. [3] This was no small feat: a sense of control gives me peace, while lack of control gives me anxiety. During my time of fasting from social media and food, I was relieved from the burden of control. 

Non-Christians, too, can reap the benefits of fasting. Fasting produces humility as we face our weaknesses––dependence on everyday luxuries, like social media or an extra cup of coffee in the morning. Fasting also cultivates discipline. When you fast, you practice (inconveniently) giving something up and delaying gratification for something better in the long term. As confidence in the value of discipline grows, the discipline developed through fasting can be executed in other areas of life, from fitness to school work. Most importantly, non-Christians can also experience some of fasting’s spiritual rewards. Anyone who desires a clearer sense of purpose or peace would benefit from the clarity that results from fasting. Using extra time and mental space to reflect and focus on our emotional, communal, and spiritual needs can help us increase our motivation and resolve. 

… 

In the fight between physical and spiritual hunger, I’ve concluded that one will inevitably be stronger than the other. Giving up an absolutely necessary component of my life to attend to my spirit was almost unfathomable. It seemed that the strength of my physical hunger far outweighed my spiritual hunger. I thought that my physical hunger would be unbearable. 

But growth does not occur within our comfort zones. I had the desire to be focused, disciplined, and gain spiritual strength, and it became stronger as I disciplined myself through fasting. I had to do something about the hunger in my spirit, so I slowly surrendered my control. I became completely full. I did not hear even a faint cry of my physical hunger because it, too, was full. The lessons and the change I experienced were the most difficult but necessary things I’ve learned in a while. I need to control my feelings so they don’t control me. I need to be in a closer relationship with God. The key is to have constant reminders that the spiritual, as well as the physical, is an absolutely necessary component of my life. Others who fast may need to be reminded of the value of the quality of humility. Whatever your goal, committing to a fast is just a start to the long, fulfilling journey of refining your spiritual life.

Notes

[1] Evans, Jimmie H III. “The Third Person of the Trinity: How the Holy Spirit Facilitates Man’s Walk with God.” Fidei et Veriatis 1, no.1 (2016). https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=fidei_et_veritatis.

[2] Krach, Soren, Frieder M. Paulus, Maren Bodden, and Tilo Kircher. “The Rewarding Nature of Social Interactions.” Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience (May 2010). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2010.00022.

[3] Isaiah 58, New International Version.

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