The season of fasting for balance in a time of very tough challenges 

We are approaching the end of the first quarter of the year, 1QY, as the finance and planning people call it. You may have noticed that around this time each year, Muslims and Christians of the mainstream churches announce and observe solemn periods of prayer, good works and strict self-discipline, summed up as “fasting”. The Christians call the observance “Lent”, and the Muslims refer to theirs as “Saum/sawm” or “Ramadhan”, the Arabic name of the month in which the fast is observed.

This year, the Christians started their 40-day Lent this week, on “Ash” Wednesday, so-called because some of them daub a pinch of ash on their heads or faces as a symbol of their intention to improve their ways. 

The Muslims will start their 30-day Saum after sighting the new moon at the beginning of April. Asked about the origins of these observations, the adherents of both these monotheistic (one God) Abrahamic faiths tell you, with conviction, that the “fast” is prescribed in the revealed scriptures (al kitab) of their beliefs.

You can see the kitabu factor there, reminiscent also of the bible truth (from Greek “biblios”, book). But we will leave the finer definitions and descriptions to the theologians, although in my own practice I draw no hard and fast lines among practitioners of any human science.

As a humanistic student of culture, however, I would like to share with you two hypothetical “hunches” that came to me as I pondered this year’s fasts. One practical point about “fasting” (reassessing and renewing oneself) after the first quarter of the year could be that we acknowledge our shortcomings and shortfalls vis-à-vis our new-year enthusiasm and “resolutions”. We need a recharge.

Further back, speculating along our evolutionary sojourns, the fasts might have something to do with our renewing ourselves even as nature renews itself for new life. 

In the northern climes, the fasts coincide with the emergence of the land from the frosts of winter and the sprouting of new life. It happens that, in most parts of East Africa, these early months also see the end of the drought and the rise of new crops and fodder with the long rains.

Could the spiritual exercises of the fast be a way of ending the drought or the winter in our hearts and springing with nature into a new life of vigour and hope? 

Spiritual observances

This is by no means questioning the validity of the scriptural observances. But human beings have, as long as they have been here, celebrated the cycles of nature in their lives. Classical Greek drama is said to have originated in such celebrations.

This brings me to the most important points I would like to make about the spiritual observances that kicked off this week with Ash Wednesday. As you can see, I am neither a critic nor a defender of the formal denominational rites, in which, incidentally, I am a participant. 

My main thrust is that such occasions and activities of humankind are a good opportunity for all of us to reflect on how we conduct our affairs, both as individuals and as a society. This is particularly important in times like the present ones, when the whole world is faced with almost unprecedented challenges, and Kenya is heading towards historic choices.

I need not elaborate. We all know that the events currently unfolding at the heart of the European continent pose a threat of what can only be described as Armageddon, the wiping out of human civilization. 

When I was growing up, and the two superpowers were America and the USSR (Russia) with their nuclear weapons, we were told that the world was kept safe by a “balance of terror”, or mutual assured destruction (MAD).

If one of the powers dared attack the other, the response would wipe out the attacker and everything else in between. 

Those powers and their allies had enough weapons to destroy the world many times over. This is probably worse today than when I was young. 

What is even more worrying is that there are many more powers and people (including patently mad ones) with these destructive weapons, and there is no guarantee that they would not use them.

Philosophy of society

The only balance that can save the world maybe one of culture or spirit that goes back to the root fact of human society. A human being, with a genuine balance of spirit (BOS), understands that humans exist and survive because of other humans. 

This is what we call the utu/ubuntu philosophy of society. Often, in our pursuit of power, prestige, riches or ideologies, we lose this balance of spirit, and we find ourselves ready to attack, kill, displace or even wipe out entire communities in our demented egotism.

In Kenya, as the months tick off one palm of our hand before the big decisions, passionate rivalries are shooting up to white-hot temperatures. 

Threats, confrontations and other forms of “imbalance” seem to be rearing their ugly heads on many fronts. Those concerned must ensure that the balance of spirit that puts human beings first is not lost in the fray. After all, the show is about human beings, and victimising them in any way is a totally unproductive loss of the balance of spirit.

The spiritual fasts that the believers are embarking on aim to “rectify” or restore the right balance in our lives. The distortions towards deceit, selfishness, corruption and violence are fought through the self-control, sympathetic fellowship, honesty and generosity practised through the spiritual exercises of prayer, reflection, fasting and charity promoted by the “fasting” seasons.

The best way to benefit from them is to take them beyond the precincts of the churches and masjids into the whole realm of our lives and our relationships. 

We can renew our societies and our world through this balance of spirit.

Happy International Women’s Day, Tuesday, to all our gallant women and all those who love, support and respect them. Remember, we celebrate our women throughout March.

Prof Bukenya is a leading East African scholar of English and [email protected]