As we enter Lent, we have to remember that temptation is all around, and seduces by offering the easy way, the shortcut. It’s not the big things that usually tempt us—it’s the little ones.
“Um, excuse me, but you have a smudge of dirt on your forehead.” I was thinking about this on Ash Wednesday, and wondering how I
Does sin loosen its grip between generations?
And then, “Risk!” says the voice of Christ within me. “What do you have to lose?” Knowing our hearts squeezed in the talons of the hawk, what indeed do any of us ever have to lose?
How can we remove “the sin that clings so closely”?
At a time when life can feel as small and cool as a stone, Lent can be a time to release the heavy weight of fear that infests so much of our public and private narratives.
Speaking to the Soul isn’t an advice column, but our reading from Proverbs gives us some advice worth taking to heart every day.
As we stand on the cusp of Lent, about to enter the dark times of the persecution and death of Jesus in our liturgical calender, it is a good time to be reminded that God the sublime and awe-inspiring has thrown God’s weight fully behind Jesus in this moment.
More good news is that God loves us enough to forgive us even before we ask for it. The confession and prayers for forgiveness aren’t for God, they’re for us, as funny as that sounds.
The words of eternal life do not disappear with changing attitudes about the practice of religion. They lurk at the center of all our questions. They inhabit those moments imbued by mystery and transition. They dwell in the ache of our hearts, the longing of our souls.