In Old Testament times, fasts were periods set apart to express national humiliation and to supplicate the divine favor. There were also numerous instances of individual fasting under the influence of grief, anxiety, or repentance. These periods of fasting were often accompanied by evidence of deep abasement—the participants covering themselves with sackcloth and ashes. But a prophet proclaimed the voice of Truth, which declared (Isa. 58:5-8): "Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? ... Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee."
According to this Scriptural passage, the fast chosen by Mind is far from that usually accepted as fasting. It does not refer to abstinence from food or drink or imply a necessity for that procedure. "To loose the bands of wickedness" could be to loose the self-righteous and self-willed approach to one's own problems and those of others. "The bands of wickedness" are indeed a gripping and tightening sense of mortal beliefs, a reluctance to part with some favored or favorite little fox that inevitably must spoil the vine—a preconceived opinion, a resistance to Truth.
Christian Science shows that "to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free," one must perhaps release in his own thought the personal sense of a loved one or of a cherished possession or let go of some idolatrous belief, which is a burden to oneself and others. Leaving our brother to Love's fiat is letting "the oppressed go free," free to choose his own path and his God-given ability to follow Love's appointing.
