News and Views

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

– Isaiah 58: 6-7

Beloved in Christ,

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ, who calls us not only to follow him, but to be formed by him, to be remade in his image, which is love, and to participate in the healing of the world.

My friend and colleague, the Rev. Dr. Zina Jacque, once joked, “Your bishop loves Lent with its fasting and sacrifice. I do not.” She was right. I do love Lent. I love this season because it invites us to slow down, to become intentional with our faith and to recenter our lives on Christ. I have found no practice that does this more purposefully than fasting. Therefore, as we enter this sacred season, I invite us into a communal fast, not as religious performance, not for self-improvement, but as a return to the heart of discipleship.

In a world saturated with noise, anxiety, consumption, and competition, the Church is summoned again to quiet, costly, countercultural practices that shape saints. John Wesley taught that the Christian life is sustained not by sincerity alone, but by disciplined participation in the means of grace: prayer, Scripture, fasting, Christian conferencing, generosity, and works of mercy. Beloved, these are not optional practices; they are the pathways through which God forms transformed hearts and lives.

This fast may take many forms, such as abstaining from food, social media, habits, comforts, or practices that dull our attentiveness to God, but its purpose is singular: to make space for God to reorder our loves, reshape our minds, and reform our lives. Fasting is embodied prayer. It declares that Christ is our true sustenance and that our deepest hunger is for the living God. It is also a protest against forces that teach us to consume without conscience and distract ourselves from suffering. When we fast, we resist the lie that fullness is found in accumulation and bear witness that fullness is found in communion with God. That communion with God, that prayer, that conversation opens us to be more fully transformed into God’s will.

Yet Scripture reminds us that not every fast pleases God. Through Isaiah, the Lord calls us to loose the bonds of injustice, share bread with the hungry, and refuse to hide ourselves from our own kin. The fast that pleases God is never merely personal. It is never satisfied with private piety divorced from public justice. Spirituality without solidarity is sentimentality, and devotion without justice is distortion.

Beloved, there is a hard truth we must confront: our society does not suffer from material poverty, but from spiritual bankruptcy. Surrounded by abundance, we have grown thin in courage, distracted in prayer, hesitant in costly love. In such a moment, discipleship cannot be cheap, comfortable, or superficial. To follow Christ is to be summoned into costly obedience, into a life where grace is not a commodity but a call, not a sentiment but a summons. The Church does not exist to secure its own survival, but to bear faithful witness, even when that witness unsettles, disrupts, and risks privilege. To fast in this way is to align our bodies, budgets, and voices with the liberating work of God.

As we fast, we are also called to attentive, mindful discipleship. Recently, I was deeply moved by the venerable monks who walked for peace, embodying disciplined presence, compassion, simplicity, and nonviolence. They did not walk for themselves, but for the world to know peace. Their witness reminds us that discipleship is not selfish, hurried, or distracted. It is deliberate, grounded, awake to the presence of God and neighbor in every step. In a culture that rushes past one another, mindfulness becomes holy resistance, seeing Christ in the ordinary, hearing the Spirit in the quiet, responding with love rather than fear.

By Easter, my hope is that we will emerge more deeply rooted in Christ, more courageous in justice, more generous in love, and more joyful in faith. I pray that our churches will be renewed in witness, our leaders strengthened in calling, and our people more deeply formed as disciples whose lives testify that Christ is alive.

May this fast be holy. May this season be transformative. And may Easter find us risen with Christ.

Blessings and peace,
Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling

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Let us begin and end each day in prayer. Let us linger with Scripture not to master it, but to be mastered by it. Let us practice silence and meditation, allowing the Spirit to search, convict, and console us.

 

Guided Lenten Prayer for the Fast

Holy God,
As we fast, empty us any selfishness or that which does not seek justice for our neighbors.
As we pray, fill us with your Spirit.
As we give, loosen our grip on fear and scarcity.
As we serve, teach us compassion without condition.
As we walk mindfully, make us aware of your presence in every step.

By Easter, raise us into new life;
more faithful,
more loving,
more joyful in Christ.
Amen.

Morning Prayer (5-10 minutes)

Invocation:
Lord, Jesus Christ, I offer you this day. As I fast, shape my yearnings, guide my steps, and make me an instrument of your love. As I grow in my discipleship, increase my desire to serve others in your Name.

Scripture Reading:
Follow the Daily Lectionary Readings for the Lenten Season

Silence (1-3 minutes)
Breathe slowly and repeat: Christ, be my sufficiency.

Midday Practice (2-5 minutes)

Mindfulness Pause:
Stop. Breathe. Notice God’s presence.
Ask: Where have I seen Christ today? How may I open my heart more to others? 

Evening Examen (10-15 minutes)

Become aware of each breath as you inhale and exhale. Listen for the Spirit’s leading.

1. Name moments of grace.
2. Examine where you loved well and where you resisted love.
3. Offer any failure to God’s mercy.
4. Seek God’s strength and power for tomorrow.