As Christians enter the period of Lent, a time of preparation, we are invited to self-examination, penitence, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
As part of my Lent observance, I am choosing to fast on March 7 together with Yeb Saño, the lead negotiator for the Philippines at the recent United Nations conference on climate change.
Saño was moved to begin fasting after the devastating impact of Typhoon Haiyan on his country. It was his prayerful call for action on climate change.
My fast will also focus on the issue of hunger and climate change.
Erratic weather has always contributed to the problem of hunger, whether through droughts, untimely rains, storms or floods that disrupt food production and livelihoods.
With climate change, the weather is becoming more erratic and extreme weather events more frequent, contributing to the problem of hunger.
We at the Foodgrains Bank hear this from farmers and others we work with in many parts of the world.
But why should I fast?
As Lynne Baab writes, fasting “offers the opportunity to step back from our culture and cross the doorway into God’s presence. Fasting ushers us into a reflective place where we can listen to God and pray wholeheartedly for things that really matter.”
I will be fasting from food in order to physically remind myself of those who experience hunger, and to in some small way identify with them.
I will also fast from the mind clutter of news, radio, TV, internet, and email that can so often fill my conscious mind and rob me of time for thought and prayer. I am an addict to all this noise.
I will take time to reflect on my own life, how I am contributing to the problem of hunger and climate change and what steps I can take personally and professionally to address this problem.
This will include calculating our household contributions to carbon emission in 2013, and making a corresponding contribution to the climate fund at the Foodgrains Bank. This offering is not made as a guilt offering that alleviates me of further responsibility, but as an act of penitence that causes me to listen for and hear what God expects of me.
This is why I am fasting.
