A Different Kind of Fast: Feeding Our True Hungers in Lent

Clarify your true hungers--and nourish your soul.

Fasting is not just the physical practice of giving up food. Fasting can also be a way to combat our culture of endless distractions and busyness. Fasting is an act of letting go, of making more internal space to listen to the sacred whispers of our lives. Join Christine Valters Paintner, online abbess of Abbey of the Arts, on a spiritual journey through seven different kinds of fasts, including fasting from control, from our attachments, from our grasping, and more. When we practice these fasts, we can discover unexpected spiritual gifts, as well as answers to deeper questions, leading us to ask: "What is my true hunger?"

Perfect for Lent, or any period when a deeper intention to clarify your true hunger is needed, A Different Kind of Fast helps us enter our hearts, stripping away old patterns and habits. Featuring striking woodcuts from artist Kreg Yingst, the book draws on the wisdom of the desert elders, Paintner offers practical contemplative practices like lectio divina, breath prayer, visio divina, meditation with desert wisdom, contemplative walks, and creative rituals. As we fast from rushing, planning, being strong, holding it all together, seeking certainty, and control, we can softly reorient ourselves toward that which nourishes and fulfills us, for the reflective Lenten season and beyond.

Christine Valters Paintner is the online abbess at Abbey of the Arts, a virtual global monastery offering retreats, prayer services, books, and resources to nurture contemplative practice and creative expression. A writer, poet, spiritual director, and teacher, she earned her PhD in Christian spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley and is a Registered Expressive Arts Consultant and Educator (REACE). Paintner is the author of over twenty-five books on spirituality, including The Artist's Rule and Breath Prayer. She and her husband, John, live on the west coast of Ireland, where together they shepherd Abbey of the Arts and lead online programs.

Kreg Yingst is an illustrator with a focus on block printing, with original works created from carved blocks of wood, linoleum, or other materials, and printed onto paper or other media. He received his BA from Trinity University in San Antonio and his MA in painting from Eastern Illinois University. His work can be found in numerous international public and private collections, including Purdue University, Indiana and Templeton Honors College, Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania. He lives in Pensacola, Florida.