On December 14th I fasted. This fact does not count as significant news, but it does raise questions worth exploring. Perhaps this will justify my going against the express command of Jesus. In St. Matthew’s Gospel, he says: “When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret.”
My reason for fasting was a call sent out by Pope John Paul II to the world’s Catholics proposing that we do so. He timed the date for the last day of Ramadan, the month-long period of fasting that Muslims observe each year. The pope’s intention was to synchronize this act of self-denial so as to help build mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims.
Fasting has never been easy for me. Because of a life-long habit of eating between meals, I find it especially difficult to refrain from food for long periods of time. So whenever an occasion for fasting arises, I discover strong reluctance in myself.
However, this time, as always, I felt the benefits of not eating more than a little food during the day. As monks and others who have made fasting a way of life can attest, this practice sharpens a person’s spiritual sensitivity. As that Friday went on, I noticed the presence of the spirit in me more than I ordinarily do.
This change is subtle, easy to miss. But fasting does draw attention to an inner space where the spirit is at work. Though I continued to feel physically deprived, I also felt spiritually enriched and moved to interior dialogue. I also was aware at times of the solidarity I felt with other people – – Muslims, Christians and others – – who had chosen to join in this spiritual exercise.
However, I also confess looking forward with eagerness to the dinner that would come after darkness had set in. Even there, I experienced the spiritual benefit of appreciating more than usual the activity of eating delicious food with enjoyment.
Granted that the good effects of fasting in the life of an individual like me can be recognized, does the practice have any further value? Does it change anything outside the lives of those who take up the practice?
These questions may not be needed by people for whom spirituality is important. Many of us do not require convincing that our fasts have an effect on the world outside. We spontaneously believe that we help, not just ourselves, but other people whom we do not even know.
For people like us, there is a reservoir of good actions done by us and others that has value for the world. This pool of virtue, we believe, can and does benefit our brothers and sisters everywhere in the world. Goodness remains available to others who can draw on it when they need or wish.
This belief can sound utterly unrealistic. Level-headed modern inhabitants of the 21st century may scoff at such imaginations. And yet, I have discovered, some scientists at Princeton University are trying to discover something similar.
They call it “global consciousness.” These scientists say: “We are looking for evidence of a developing global consciousness that might perceive and react to events with deep meaning.”
Specifically, they have focused on the events of September eleventh and believe they have found evidence of a reaction throughout the world. Their network registered “an unmistakable and profound response,” they report.
Instruments based at Princeton registered such a strong response to the catastrophe that the patterns suggest a unity of consciousness widespread in the world. The scientists do not know exactly what to make of this phenomenon but they suppose something like this: “The riveting events drew us from our individual concerns and melded us into an extraordinary coherence. Maybe we became, briefly, a global consciousness.”
I cannot vouch for any validity in this approach but I do find it fascinating. My knowledge of it comes from an article sent me over the Internet by a friend interested in spirituality. My friend, a person of good judgment, says of the Princeton experiment: “What it means to me is that prayer, meditation, thought represent real energy with real effect and impact.”
The article was written by Bernadette Cahill for the Mountain Times of Boone, North Carolina and is entitled “Scientific Proof of Global Consciousness May Be Emerging.” More information is available at the project’s web site: www.noosphere.princeton.edu. [link no longer active]
Richard Griffin