There is a certain irony in thinking of fasting as sharing our food, is there not?  Essentially, God says to his people: I want you to engage in true fasting by sharing food with people who aren’t eating… not because they are also fasting, but because they have no food from which to fast.  As we wrote in Monday’s post, “Being hungry is having that choice taken from you by circumstances.” 

In Mary’s song of worship that she sings after visiting Elizabeth, she praises God for filling the hungry with good things, but says he has sent the rich away empty. God wants to fill up the hungry, and he wants us to be his hands and feet to do so.

Many of us probably spend a lot of time and money each week keeping our bodies healthy.  We buy healthy groceries, we meal prep, we take vitamins and supplements, we exercise, we take our children to their well check visits, and so on.  These are good, life-giving tasks, and we are meant to care for our bodies. After all, we are God’s beloved creation, made in his image, and Christ himself took on flesh in order to become one of us.

But those who live with food insecurity are no different.  They too are made in God’s image, and they want to care for their bodies and their loved ones.  They want the dignity of a choice to fast, just as we do. 

And in fact, there is no “they” in this scenario.  We are all interconnected and intertwined, and our own flourishing depends on the flourishing of us all.  

“The starving poor sat down to a banquet” – will you help lay the table?  Will you carry those who are hungry, whose bellies are empty?