Today is the third day that I have been been fasting all food and wine. As is custom I wear sackcloth and put ashes on my head so that people know I am fasting. This way they will know that I love the law and give up worldly pleasures to please God.
While I was reading in the words of the prophets yesterday, I found a place where Isaiah wrote about fasting. He said that fasting isn’t just about sackcloth and ashes, but that I should also give my bread to the hungry, clothe the naked, bring the homeless into my home, and not ignore them. This is the fast that God desires. Seeing that I clearly wasn’t doing enough before, I took a loaf of our bread that Hannah had made a couple of days ago, and I gave it to a poor family that has been begging near the temple everyday for two months now.
Then today I saw a man near my home, he was sitting on the street corner begging for money. His hand was shriveled up and he couldn’t work. I gave the man a robe from my house and a few silver coins from my purse. People stared as I helped these people because it isn’t common to see Pharisees associating with that low class of Israelites. I felt embarrassed, not because I was seen doing this kind deed, but because it isn’t common.
