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Fasting matters in 2019

Lynne Baab • Saturday October 19 2019

I am convinced that in 2019 and into the next decade we need to encourage creative ways of fasting, especially fasts from technology. Parents need to talk naturally to their kids about foregoing certain aspects of technology for finite periods of time. Parents need to model it, and children and teens need to be encouraged to try it.

I’ve been pondering what this might look like, and I was reminded of the interviews I did with Christians overseas for my book on fasting. Friends connected me with people they knew on just about every continent. All of my overseas interviewees talked about...

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Fasting from words

Lynne Baab • Friday October 11 2019

Last Friday morning was stressful. The stress originated Thursday afternoon, when for some unknown reason, I felt so tired I couldn’t make myself exercise as I normally do on Thursday afternoon. I took a long nap, something I almost never do, and I was so groggy the rest of the afternoon and evening that I couldn’t do anything productive.

By the time I got to my desk on Friday morning, I had an hour to get through a list of small tasks before I needed to get out on my bicycle, to make up for the lost exercise on Thursday. As I...

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Fasting and our bodies

Lynne Baab • Thursday October 3 2019

My body and I have a checkered relationship. As a teenager I was quite athletic and physically active. As an adult, I have exercised three times a week, almost every week, for decades. Exercise calms my rioting thoughts and emotions, helps me sleep better, and gets me out in nature. Throughout my adult life and even now, in my 60s, I haven’t been super athletic, but neither am I completely sedentary. I’d love to exercise a bit more, but what I do works well for me.

My eating, however, is another story. In my teen years, my mother and I engaged in...

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When we intentionally put away our phones, is it a fast or a sabbath?

Lynne Baab • Thursday September 26 2019

Our lives are “thickly technological,” writes Mark Labberton, President of Fuller Theological Seminary.[1] Because of this shift, intentionally stepping aside from technology is becoming increasingly important. This might mean turning off cellphones for a period of time, not turning on laptops or tablets, refraining from checking email or social media, or choosing not to use another form of technology that plays a role in our lives.

When we do that, are we fasting from that form of technology or having a Sabbath? I have heard people use both terms, and I want to explore some of the issues related to which word...

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