Lately, I have been fasting—not from food or drink or chocolate, but from thinking about other people’s faults. The more I practice this kind of fasting, the more I realize how easy it is to see other people’s faults. It takes no effort at all. Even worse, there is an awful deliciousness in rehearsing other people’s faults.
“[U]nfortunately we enjoy thinking about other people’s faults.” C. S. Lewis, “The Trouble with X”
Now, when I catch myself thinking about other people’s faults, I practice stopping. I say to myself, “Just for today, other people’s faults are off-limits. You’re not allowed to go there. Focus on your own faults instead.” That, of course, is harder and far less enjoyable.
“Abstain from all thinking about other people’s faults, unless your duties as a teacher or parent make it necessary to think about them. Whenever the thoughts come unnecessarily into one’s mind, why not simply shove them away? And think of one’s own faults instead? For there, with God’s help, one can do something. Of all the awkward people in your house or job there is only one whom you can improve very much.” Ibid.
The more I practice this fasting, the more I realize that I am the awkward person in my house and job. At first, this came as an unwelcomed shock, but gradually it is bringing relief. It right-sizes me. It takes me off center-stage. Best of all, it frees me to enjoy the people around me the way I enjoy a good swim.