Fasting from television

Have you ever fasted from watching television? Mike and I have been doing that this week. We actually fasted from TV last summer after we got back from a vacation to the mountains where we stayed in a bed & breakfast with no television in the room. We got back and realized we didn't miss the TV, so we kept it off for a few weeks.

This fast has been more purposeful and a little bit harder -- one, because it's the middle of winter and there's not much to do, particularly in the evening hours between dusk and bedtime, and two, because it's something we've purposed to do. The last TV fast seemed more accidental.

We're fasting for a couple of different reasons:

1) We think it's good to do some kind of fast periodically (not just during Lent when most people think of fasting), whether from food or television or drinking soda or whatever. Sometimes we're so focused on "feeding our flesh," if you will, that we don't realize we don't actually NEED this stuff like we think we do.

2) Fasting clears our heads and helps us focus on what's most important, particularly listening to the voice of God. It's amazing how many voices vie for our attention in our media-driven culture.

The quiet of no television has been wonderful. It's hard to get used to at first -- so often I turn on the TV for noise -- but after a while it's a welcome change. Mike and I have been reading more. In fact, we've both almost finished a book each in a few days. Meals seem less hurried and more intentional. I feel less hurried and more relaxed. We didn't rule out the Internet or radio for this fast, so we're still getting our news and some entertainment. (I actually prefer to get my news from the newspaper or Internet anyway. To me it's like eating a well-cooked meal at home that you can digest more easily. Television news is like fast food -- quick, not much worth chewing on, and it leaves you hungry for something more.)

The most interesting thing I've noticed this week has been the absence of advertising from my life. Sure, I still hear ads on the radio or see them in the newspaper or on the Internet, but they're not the same as television advertising. The consumerism on TV seems intrusive now that I've been away from it for a while, but then again no one is holding a gun to my head forcing me to watch TV. I've never really understood why people complain so much about what's on TV, yet they won't turn it off, as if they have no choice about it. There is an OFF button.

The most amazing thing of the past few days is feeling more in tune to God's voice. No television gives me time to think more, time to pray more, time to process more. When that instinct kicks in to reach for the remote control (and believe me, that instinct has kicked in several times a day), I pause and think, "Nope, I'm not going to turn that TV on." It makes me think about why we decided to turn off the TV in the first place. It seems painful for a while -- after all, fasting of any kind is not supposed to be painless -- but then I just put it out of my mind and set myself to doing other things.

I'm not sure how long our fast will last. We didn't put a time limit on it. But the more time we go without TV, the easier it gets. And the more we realize there's not much worth watching anyway. It's more habit than anything else.

Ahhhh. . . . that peace and quiet, the absence of the noise and talking heads of our culture, sure sound wonderful.