“Fasting is my favorite current practice. It’s not one that everyone is too happy about, being one of the prescribed practices.
When my stomach is empty or when I’ve eaten just enough that my hunger is satisfied and no more, then I can truly feel my heart. I can access my heart as a compass that can guide me back to my Lord.
Through fasting, I can know when my heart will tell me when I’m in right relationship with whomever I’m with or whatever I’m doing or if I’m in wrong relationship with it.
My heart will also tell me when something is in wrong relationship with me so that I can use the other practices a lot more effectively. Fasting really cultivates my self-awareness and has given a boost to all my other practices.
Through eating less and fasting and having more self-awareness of my heart, I’m able to have more compassion and sensitivity to what’s going on for others around me, and as a result of being more sensitive to their needs, there are a lot fewer miscommunications and much deeper relationships.”
~Andrew Abd’llah Houck, grad of UOS
