Repairing the Breach
February 14, 2024 | By Zeki Tan MY ‘25
image description: green-leafed tree in desert
In late August of 2022, Elon Musk disclosed to his followers on Twitter that he was “[o]ver 20 lbs down from [his] (unhealthy) peak weight” through an intermittent fasting diet: one in which individuals restrict food intake at set times during the day or skip meals on some days of the week. [1], [2] True to his beliefs in the salvific power of technology, he credited the fasting app Zero with helping him create a diet plan to achieve his weight loss goals. [3] Numerous celebrities have also promoted intermittent fasting as a panacea to maintaining their trim figures, including former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, and actress Jennifer Aniston. [4]
Intermittent fasting is associated with health benefits such as reduced risk of developing type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease. [5] Yet fasting today has become an engine of solipsism, fueling a culture in which people focus obsessively on their own body image. Social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram have enabled online influencers to propagate dieting trends that purportedly result in “tiny, hourglass waist[s]” in women and “jacked,” muscular bodies in men. [6] Physical beauty might have been prized in many ancient societies, but today’s online celebrity economy has magnified it to a greater degree than in the past.
In the Christian tradition, fasting is primarily practiced during Lent, a forty-day period meant to mirror Jesus Christ’s own solitary fast in the desert. According to the Bible, Jesus precedes His ministry in Judea with a forty-day withdrawal to the desert where he is tempted by Satan himself. [7] During Lent, Christians abstain from consuming certain foods, particularly meat; some forgo meals altogether for days at a time. For Christians, fasting is a step toward the reconciliation of humans with God. Fasting assists people in becoming aware of their moral shortcomings and their need for God to change their actions for the better. As God declares to His people in the book of the prophet Joel:
“[R]eturn to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments.” [8]
The central claim in Joel and throughout the Bible is that humanity is at war with God. Humanity’s attention and energy has been bent inward by sin, resulting in people relying only on themselves to correct their flaws. Sin blinds humans to the suffering of others, preventing them from comforting and assisting them. It sounds glib, but just as empires led by human rulers have employed tactics of divide and conquer to subjugate others, Christians believe sin has done the same to humanity. Furthermore, sin has caused humans to distort fasting toward their own malevolent ends. As God says to the prophet Isaiah:
“Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
and oppress all your workers.
Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.” [9]
God condemns this use of fasting to promote a false sense of righteousness while cloaking acts of cruelty, saying that “fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.” [10] In the Gospels, Jesus likewise warns listeners against fasting to earn the praise of others, exhorting them not to
“look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others [...] But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret.” [11]
So what does a properly directed culture of fasting look like?
Fasting heightens our senses to our vulnerability. Instead of spotlighting the strength of our willpower in, say, disciplining our bodies to achieve a desired figure, fasting reveals the limits of our bodies, opening our eyes to our need for God and each other. This perspective of interdependence sensitizes us to the plight of others, resulting in a fast that stirs us
“to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke.” [12]
In other words, fasting Christianly means being sensitive to the hurts we and other people have inflicted on each other, and participating in the work of reconciliation as modeled by Jesus Christ in the Gospels. Today, this may include working to restore peace between nations at war, and curbing the wanton destruction of the planet. God promises that with this kind of fasting, “you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.” [13] This kind of fasting is therapeutic, actively involved in the affairs of the world, unlike misguided fasting which detaches its practitioners from the world. However, such fasting cannot be achieved through sheer willpower alone. As social media influencers and others have demonstrated, fasting can easily be twisted toward self-centered ends. Instead, fasting ought to be rooted in a habit of prayer—itself a spiritual practice that relies on attention intensely concentrated toward the nature of God alone. If oriented solely toward God and not the praise of other people, we can trust that our fasting is a constructive effort in the healing of societies.
I invite you, whether you identify with Christianity, another religious tradition, or none at all, to consider fasting this Lent. May it be an opportunity for quiet, thoughtful contemplation, and instill in you a greater hunger to love God and to love one another.
Sources:
[1] Elon Musk [@elonmusk]. “Over 20 lbs down from my (unhealthy) peak weight.” August 28, 2022. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1563948579454013441
[2] Johns Hopkins Medicine. “Intermittent Fasting: What is it, and how does it work?” September 29, 2023. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/intermittent-fasting-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work#:~:text=What%20is%20intermittent%20fasting%3F,week%20may%20have%20health%20benefits.
[3] Elon Musk [@elonmusk]. “The Zero fasting app is quite good.” August 28, 2022. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1563944735730909185?lang=en
[4] Diane J. Cho. “Stars Who've Found Success with Intermittent Fasting.” January 22, 2020. https://people.com/health/stars-who-do-intermittent-fasting/
[5] Rafael de Cabo, Ph.D. and Mark P. Mattson, Ph.D. “Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging, and Disease.” December 26, 2019. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmra1905136
[6] The Learning Network. “What Students are Saying About How Social Media Affects Their Body Image.” March 31, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/learning/what-students-are-saying-about-how-social-media-affects-their-body-image.html
[7] Matthew 4:1-11.
[8] Joel 2:12-13.
[9] Isaiah 58:3-4.
[10] Isaiah 58:4.
[11] Matthew 6:16-18.
[12] Isaiah 58:6.
[13] Isaiah 58:12.