The Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care has produced a resource for Anglicans who want to undertake a fast during Lent that focuses on Creation and issues related to the climate crisis.
A Fast for the Earth: Lent 2021 provides a fast for each week of Lent, which begins on Feb. 17 and ends on April 3. It begins with a meat fast followed by a consumption fast, a food waste fast, a water fast, an injustice fast, an electricity fast and an ignorance fast. It concludes with a resurrection feast for Easter on April 4.
Each fast begins with a passage from scripture related to the subject, followed by a short reflection on how the subject is harming creation, and then some suggestions for how to give it up for the week or make long-lasting changes that will benefit creation.
The guide, which is easy to read and includes attractive illustrations, contains lots of helpful links to other resources for people who want to learn more. There are also tips such as doing the fasts with a friend or just focusing on one fast throughout Lent.
“At the start of the biblical story, we are called to ‘serve and observe’ the creation (Genesis 2.15),” writes Sylvia Keesmaat, co-chair of the Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care, in the introduction. “But sometimes we don’t know what to observe or how to serve the land and creatures that surround us. This Lenten resource is provided to help us in our walk as servants of creation.”
