Today’s reading is an excerpt from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov. ” In “Redemption” the speaker, Father Zossima is telling his fellow Monk about the role Zossima’s brother Markel played in his personal conversion. The story is really more about the sickness and death of Markel and how he find real life. There is a point in Markel’s last days, during the time of Easter, when he confesses his sins to the birds outside the window to his room. He explains the confession, “there was so much of God’s glory around me, birds, tress, meadows, sky and I alone lived in shame, I alone dishonored everything, and did not see the beauty and glory of it all.” We can quickly become self-absorbed even in worthy pursuits. We are longing to be renewed inwardly but succumb to the temptation of looking for that redemption in ourselves and we miss the glory all around us. One way to come out of this neglect of God’s glory is through fasting. Fasting should be done after consideration of many factors chiefly motivation and proper health. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 that when we fast it should not be to draw attention to ourselves or make a display out of our misery. It should be done in solemn commitment and obedience to God. May we, like Markel, be made aware of what we are missing, even if that means something has to be put to the side for a time.