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24 SEP 04: FAST AND SLOW
When the sun sets on this Friday, I plan to stop eating for awhile. Now don't get wrong ideas about this -- and start calling me "Mary-Kate."
Tonight is the start of the Biblical Day of Atonement, or what the Jews call "Yom Kippur." Believers go without food and drink for 24 hours. They'll also gather to worship -- as well as trade old jokes about offering to take each other out to lunch.
No, I'm not Jewish - but there are Christians who keep the Day of Atonement as well, and I'm one of them. It's our one "expected fast" of the year. The rest of the time, many people aren't fast to start fasting at all....
Please note the Day of Atonement starts at sunset, under the Jewish tradition. So if the rest of you can avoid going to restaurants until after 7:30 p.m., we believers would appreciate it. We'll be "carbo-loading" like marathon runners, from 6:00 on.
I've heard stories from friends over the year about how they have to prepare for a fast like this. Some coffee drinkers have to ease off the stuff for a couple of days in advance, or they develop headaches. And then people get so upset about alcohol addiction....
(Since I don't drink coffee, I can't really relate to what these people face. And in this era of Starbuck's and five-dollar cappucino, I also feel a bit wealthier.)
During a fasting time such as Yom Kippur, I don't develop headaches at all. The only big change is that I tend to get sleepy. Considering our church service doesn't start until 2:30 p.m. Saturday, I hope the Pastor doesn't mind if a few people snore during his sermon.
But here's the strange thing: I've found I can go jogging at the end of a fast, and travel a good distance. Someday I'll learn the hidden lesson of this - and stop nibbling on all those chocolate chip cookies between meals.
My most memorable Yom Kippur was one of the first I ever kept. It was the early 1980's in Oklahoma, and I hurried to down dinner at Taco Grande just before sunset. Yes, I had spicy Mexican food on a deadline - and 23 hours later at the end
of the fast, I felt nearly dead as a result.
(I'm not exaggerating about this. I was crawling on the apartment floor and throwing up in the final hour of that fast. Looking back, I guess I needed humbling much more than I realized.)
Did you hear about the major league baseball player who keeps Yom Kippur? Shawn Green of the Dodgers plans to miss at least one game this weekend for Atonement, even though Los Angeles is fighting for first place near the end of the season. Green's teammates may be hoping Barry Bonds converts to Islam, and makes a pilgrimage to Mecca.
How ironic that on the Day of Atonement, auditions will be held downtown to find a Columbus contender for "American Idol." Instead, believers will be at church or at home - being more like American IDLE.
So chew on these Thursday items for awhile, while I eat up and prepare my body for the weekend:
+ Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine announced he'll investigate whether other military bases pressured soldiers to buy expensive life insurance plans, like what happened at Fort Benning. So when do Benning's generals plan to add State Farm and Allstate to their off-limits list?
+ "What's New, Miriam?" on TV-16 spent a half-hour focusing on the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. Miriam Tidwell showed she had a little knowledge about this topic - as she never asked any guest to reveal exactly where the river is kept. Jerry Laquire probably would have asked that.
+ Stuart Sappington won the Georgia Senior Amateur golf title at the Country Club of Columbus. Sappington broke a tie for the lead by hitting a hole-in-one from the 16th tee! Is he really from Alpharetta, Georgia - or the Republic of Georgia, and trying to make the next Ryder Cup team?
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