The Forty-Day Fast Today begins a 40-dayfast. Since I am back in Saipan, I shalluse the metaphor of a majority of island residents. Forty is a whole number to Judaism,Christianity, and Islam. It is a numberof completion, one generation in biblical reckoning. Forty years in the wilderness, and forty daysin the desert are examples. The fast points to theother side of feast in life’s reality. As we celebrate annually birthdays, some folks stop counting at 39. That’s because the ascent ceases and thedescent begins, in the pyramidal language of social stratification that fitsnicely our hierarchical sense of nature. This is different inother cultures where being creative means standing at the cutting edge ofmovemental reality. Creation, change,innovation are the language of our island context shared with us by Spain,Germany, Japan, and the United States. Iinclude Japan in there because the militaristic Japan that attempted aCo-prosperity scheme when they occupied the Marianas was patterned afterEngland by the Meiji restoration, thereby, hierarchical with Nippon on top. An older ethos fromChina has this saying: Life is a circleso what’s the hurry. It is standing inthe middle that is the goal of life, not at the edge. Stillness lingering like a downcast hoveringover a terrain is more valued than the speed of moving forward. Fast is the standing still in space as thewinds of change roams over the landscape of time. Accomplishment is not achieving theimpossible; it is attaining the tranquil and serene quietude. The Great Wall kept the invaders at bay, andwhen they did march through the breach, they did not conquer but wereassimilated like the Mongols and the Manchus. And when Zhang He the adventurous admiral spread its armada’s sails allthe way to the shores of Africa, the Ming Emperor turned on the elegy of theriver and went the opposite direction of cleaning the house and the inner yardso that peace may abide. While both the feastand the fast are nothing but different sides of the same reality, the mindoften requires reminders like rites and rituals to embrace its limits and notjust its possibilities. That’s why Ifast. Admittedly, thepractice also addresses the two extra inches of belt space in our current girththat was not there when we started slurping the chow mien (noodles) and wolfing the jiao zi (dumplings) in our current residence in Dong Bei. But it is exactly bumping into the limits that we live on thereality of what is given. We keep harping thatours is a journey that may have parts, phases, and counted years, but isessentially one, in our case, 86 years. In the scheme of things, from before my time and after, I am a minusculepart of reality. I am nothing. But within the 86 years, with all its intriguesand surprises, its speed bumps and the foot on the pedal, with every morsel ofits awake hours subject to the molding of choice, I am somebody. What applies to me also applies to everyone. We are the feast andthe fast of our existence. In the Christianstory, excusing for the moment its historical bigotries and addiction to thearchaic, fast is observed for 40 days until a glorious moment when death in itsstillness is transformed into a glorious resurrection. Let me put a little twist on the traditionalstory. The Jesus whose story isparadigmatic of the Christian rite, gleaned from my theological clarity of thebarefoot Jesus of Nazareth, simply means that we had been saved from our sinfuldependence on a busybody G-O-D. “Are youwaiting for a Messiah,” is the cry from the Cross. The answer in the early morn of the emptytomb was, “You need not wait any longer.” We can pick up our lives and head for the Galilee of our vocation! We fast so that we understand the gift of thefeast. Heresy, heresy, theguardians of the cathedral gates and the holy book will say. Not so. Read your Church history again. Read your Bible again and listen to thereality it is pointing to, not the belief and dogmas we inherited from thosewho used their metaphors in their time. The infallibility of the mother Church and the Papal office isconferred, built on the trust that the truth is being told in a manner thatillumines our life realities. When it nolonger did in the nascent selfhood of Germany, a Luther was born. He posted his thesis on a cathedral door toinvite the princes of the realm to repent and fast from their illusions. Fast is not aboutabstaining from meat but in knowing that life allows one to easily drown in the gentle current at Micro beach. Fast is notabout keeping the male and female separate during the day, and quietly modestat night. Rather, it is knowing that thegenetics of union might carry incomplete chromosomes and incompatible genes,that the generous portion on our plates may also contain added artificialchemicals to prolong shelf life for commerce. It is feeling in our bones the emptiness of achieved knowledge andattained certitude. Reality defies easycategorization of the mind. Come down to thepala-pala in front of the JP building (formerly Century) at 4-6 pm today. We can fast together! j'aime la vie pinoypanda2031@aol.com yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. In all, celebrate!