I've noticed that several UPC and non-UPC Oneness type churches are doing the "Daniel Fast" this year following the New Years Weekend. I think that it is considerate to give families time to clean up the leftovers from a holiday.
Is anyone else doing the Daniel Fast? My family is in the thick of it. My wife has devalued our property from frying so much zucchini already this week.
For reasons I cannot go into here, I am not participating fully because I must engorge myself on fresh meat at every full moon, but the effects of this insanity are hard to avoid.
I can see the Biblical tie-in with Daniel's dietary requests in Daniel 1:8-21; however, the modern practice takes it far beyond Daniel's request and seems to be agenda driven. Not only are meat and wine taboo, but anything that has been processed or that contains additives or even food coloring. Also, Daniel's "ten days" is extended to 21 or even a full month.
So many changes are made that it seems silly to even attempt to identify this with the Daniel of the Bible. While the diet itself may be beneficial - the reasons given for it and the attachment to the Scripture just strikes me as disingenuous.
Why not just come out and say, "Apostolics are too fat and we are going to do something about it... ?"
1. A fast should be a personal choice. No church should mandate that its members fast, IMO. It can be scheduled, but all participation should be voluntary. That would be like mandating prayer. It's so closely entwined with your relationship with God, I don't see how you can insist that people participate in a certain way at a certain time.
2. A "Daniel Fast" can be interpreted several ways. To me, it means to eat *pulse*--fruits & vegetables, and drink only water. Personally, I would also avoid adding sugar, flour, and other processed foods to the mix.
Daniel 1:12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
3. If fasting means to deny yourself something, then making fried zucchini that you can dip in ranch dressing doesn't seem to qualify--LOL!!! That sounds yummy!
Anyway, we've done similar things, but bottom line--it's up to the individuals, or at least the individual families how to participate. Beyond that, I don't think it really matters how people interpret it, or what they choose to set aside for a time. We got more good out of our "technology fast" than anything else.
__________________
"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
I've noticed that several UPC and non-UPC Oneness type churches are doing the "Daniel Fast" this year following the New Years Weekend. I think that it is considerate to give families time to clean up the leftovers from a holiday.
Is anyone else doing the Daniel Fast? My family is in the thick of it. My wife has devalued our property from frying so much zucchini already this week.
For reasons I cannot go into here, I am not participating fully because I must engorge myself on fresh meat at every full moon, but the effects of this insanity are hard to avoid.
I can see the Biblical tie-in with Daniel's dietary requests in Daniel 1:8-21; however, the modern practice takes it far beyond Daniel's request and seems to be agenda driven. Not only are meat and wine taboo, but anything that has been processed or that contains additives or even food coloring. Also, Daniel's "ten days" is extended to 21 or even a full month.
So many changes are made that it seems silly to even attempt to identify this with the Daniel of the Bible. While the diet itself may be beneficial - the reasons given for it and the attachment to the Scripture just strikes me as disingenuous.
Why not just come out and say, "Apostolics are too fat and we are going to do something about it... ?"
AMF is!!!
__________________
'Some folk don't understand that the middle "F" in AFF is the most important ingredient!' -noeticknight
__________________
"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
1. A fast should be a personal choice. No church should mandate that its members fast, IMO. It can be scheduled, but all participation should be voluntary. That would be like mandating prayer. It's so closely entwined with your relationship with God, I don't see how you can insist that people participate in a certain way at a certain time.
2. A "Daniel Fast" can be interpreted several ways. To me, it means to eat *pulse*--fruits & vegetables, and drink only water. Personally, I would also avoid adding sugar, flour, and other processed foods to the mix.
Daniel 1:12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
3. If fasting means to deny yourself something, then making fried zucchini that you can dip in ranch dressing doesn't seem to qualify--LOL!!! That sounds yummy!
Anyway, we've done similar things, but bottom line--it's up to the individuals, or at least the individual families how to participate. Beyond that, I don't think it really matters how people interpret it, or what they choose to set aside for a time. We got more good out of our "technology fast" than anything else.
Hah! No Ranch Dressing allowed and no dairy of any kind either. Personally, I don't think zucchini is even "food;" but that's just me.
And this thing is entirely voluntary. The church leadership are pretty cool about discipleship type matters and are generally positive in their approach. It's a refreshing change from other UPC environments that we've been in.
I was just wondering about the custom overall. Several different churches around the country that I am familiar with are doing this now. The RRC of course had the Lenten Fast - no meat - that begins just a bit later in the year. This is considered a time of "self mortification" and etc. for them.
Is there something about mid-winter and the New Year? That seems obvious. Human beings from all sorts of backgrounds will often fall into similar patterns of behavior despite having vast cultural differences.
Many RCC customs developed following the patterns of the indigenous people. The Santiago Compostela pilgrimage (The Way of St. James) follows the same route through Spanish Galicia that an older Gaelic pilgrimage to Finis Terra ("Land's End") had blazed. Medieval and even modern pilgrims on the route carry a scallop shell or at least a scallop symbol just as the ancient Gaels were said to have done.
There are many Hispanic families in New Mexico and Colorado that set up a Seder table at Easter complete with an "Elijah's Cup" but until recently they had no idea why. It turns out that they are the descendants of Spanish Jews (Conversarios) who converted to RCC to avoid forced deportation back in 1492. Outwardly they all behaved as "good Catholics," but every Easter (Passover) their grandmas would tell them to set the table in what appeared to be a strange manner compared to the other RCC in their communities.
Are there practices that we are adopting that follow some ancient urge? I personally don't think it's a bad thing at all. It's just kind of fascinating to watch humans as they go about their journeys.
I hereby request that you return to the Old Paths and change your name back to "Pelathais". "Brother David" sounds like everybody else but "Pelathais" sounds special.
'Some folk don't understand that the middle "F" in AFF is the most important ingredient!' -noeticknight
(I had to think about it for a few seconds! 
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