The Fast

Today was the first day of a very special time of year, a time when Baha'is all around the world make efforts to turn our attention from the material and the mundane that so often occupy our thoughts and focus instead on the needs of the spirit, sometimes overlooked in the craziness of our daily lives. It is a time of prayer, reflection, and service, and as a symbol of the effort to prioritize the needs of the soul over the those of the body, Baha'is forgo food and drink between sunrise and sunset. I like to think of it as a chance to refresh my spirit in preparation for the coming year, which begins with spring on March 21st.

The Fast lasts for 19 days, and I did have an inspiring little photography project in mind for those 19 days in order to share this uplifting time with you all. As it turns out, however, I was not able to get things together in time. Fear not. If you are seeking something uplifting I highly recommend you wander on over to Nineteen Days--a collaborative photography project by Amy and Leila, who will be taking pictures every dawn and dusk in New York City and Sydney, respectively, and sharing them with all of us. I may join them by posting a dawn photo or two here myself if I can manage to remember my camera in my bleary-eyed state before sunrise. Suffice it to say, this morning I did not. Instead I share a photo I took during the early hours of the morning during the Fast last year.