Day 14:

Today is fast Sunday, where we don't eat or drink between dinner on Saturday night to dinner time on Sunday.  It's a challenge and a day of reckoning to see where you're at in overcoming bodily temptations.  I recently did a study on this for a talk I gave last week, and it was a FASCINATING subject to dive into!  One of my favorites parts was from a talk in 1928 by Melvin J. Ballard, called "The Struggle for the Soul", and it really made my fast more meaningful.  It was about the discussion we have between our spirit (the immortal part of us that enters our body some time before birth, and leaves at death), and our body:

 “My head will ache; I will feel faint; I cannot fast so long; I must eat a little.”  Are you yielding to it?  If so, I can tell you who is being boss in your establishment, who is gaining the mastery.  It is a splendid thing, at least once a month, for [body and spirit] to come into a real settlement of the question, and for the [spirit to say to the body], the house I live in, my servant: You can do without these two meals; it will not hurt you.  Indeed it will benefit you.  And though my head may ache and my body may feel faint, I will not die; I am bigger than you are and once a month I will show you that I am master.” What strength that will give you to resist tomorrow when some other craving arrives!  It may be for liquor, tobacco, or some other craving of the flesh—and I have gained strength to say to the house that I live in: “You cannot defile this tabernacle; I will have it clean; I will not have the windows darkened, I will not have this body defiled; it is my servant, and it must be kept clean.”

Isn't that awesome?!  It's not just going hungry!  It's not just about having a more powerful prayer!  It's about teaching our body to come into submission to our spirit.  I love it.

Anyway, because it's fast Sunday today, I want dinner to be more fabulous than a normal day.  I'm pulling out some steaks that I cut from a pork roast and froze, some mashed potatoes and home-canned green beans.  Lots of food groups represented, guys; and you know that's weird for me.   Should be good!