by Rev. Herbert Nichols

He killed a police officer. Now he is paying the penalty. They strapped him to the electric chair. They attach metal plates to his shaven head and one leg. In a moment they will shoot an electric current through his body to cause instant loss of consciousness and death.

The officiating officer asks if he has any last statement. Immediately the condemn cries out: It all started with that lousy nickel. I stole a nickel from my mother's purse, then two nickels; then I began to steal from school, the grocery and drug store. Then I joined with friends who taught me how to break into places. The takes got bigger and bigger but never enough. Then we hit the bank and I shot the cop. It all started with that lousy nickel.

A not unfamiliar story of street crime. It starts with something small like a nickel. a puff of marijuana or a shot of booze, a burst of adrenaline and when unchecked it leads to robbery, perhaps violence and even death‑‑but it starts with something small.

In the gospel today we hear speak about a time for fasting. That time is now. But it is also necessary to know how to fast as well as when and why to fast. Fasting is a discipline‑‑a grace which helps us to curb the natural desires which can lead us to excess whether it be greed gluttony or pride.

The prophet Isaiah challenged the people who fasted for the wrong reasons; for whom fasting was simply obeying the letter of the law and seldom had any affect on their relationship with God.

Isaiah proclaims as God's prophet: This is the fasting that I wish; releasing those unjustly bound; sharing your bread with the hungry; sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked and being attentive to those in your own home with love.

Perhaps we might think all of these are a bit impractical or can only be safely done by writing a check for a reputable charity; but the last may be the easiest to overlook or the hardest to deal with‑­being attentive the needs of those in your own home and treating them with love.

It is so easy to think of fasting as simply foregoing a snack or a favorite desert; but fasting achieves it meaning and purpose only when it moves from self‑control to helping improve the life of another person.

By fasting we have the opportunity to stop and realize who much we have received from God and perhaps take for granted. Through fasting the importance of sharing our own resources talents and time strike us with greater urgency.

The Bible invites us to imitate the great love God reveals to us through Jesus. When we imitate God's love by sharing with another we reach our fullest potential of being the image of God that he created us to be. And we do what God does we not lonely recognize ourselves in Him but H recognizes Himself in us.