Lent #23:  Discipline 4 of 7—Fasting.

Declare a holy fast ...and cry out to the Lord!

(Joel 1:14)

In the face of a massive locus attack, the prophet Joel calls for a national fast to put an end to the infestation and preserve their economy. Watch the prophet’s poetic plea (Joel 1:4-14):

What the cutting locust left,

    the swarming locust has eaten.

What the swarming locust left,

    the hopping locust has eaten, and

What the hopping locust left,

    the destroying locust has eaten…

It has laid waste my vines,

    and splintered my fig trees;

it has stripped off their bark

    and thrown it down…

The vine withers,

    the fig tree droops.

Pomegranate, palm, and apple—

    all the trees of the field are dried up;

surely, joy withers away

            among the people.

Consecrate a fast,

    call a solemn assembly.

Gather the elders

    and all the inhabitants of the land

to the house of the LORD your God,

    and cry out to the LORD.

I can’t say that’s what needs to be said. I’m not a prophet. I can’t write poetry. I want to think about it some: Does Joel and his poetry have anything to say during our viral scourge? Whatever is to be said should probably be said poetically.