Fasting for the World to See // irony at it’s finest other than gossip

So I’ve noticed a couple of high profile/high traffic bloggers (who have been a part of what’s been shaping who I am over the past year or so) who have decided to give up all their online community for Lent. That is, they are not going to blog, facebook, or twitter. I’ve also noticed that several other bloggers have commented on their absence (I’m now included in that). I’d give you the links to who they are, but it would now be somewhat pointless to mosey over to their blogs seeing as how they are not there.

I’ve done my best to reserve judgement and I realize that God calls each of us to things from time to time that require us to stop what we are doing, but I just don’t get telling the whole world about it. Lent is about fasting and replacing that thing from which you are fasting with more direct focus on your relationship with Jesus. But Jesus says this in Matthew 6:

Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you…

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I think Jesus is saying, “just go about your business when I call you to fast so as not to draw attention to yourself.” When you announce to the world that you are fasting, and what you are fasting from, it would appear that you are starting off on the wrong foot.