To linger is tempting. I know. I don’t want to give up anything, after all. But Lent is about more than giving something up. More, even, than taking something on. There are probably a thousand or more good things you could do for Lent, but unless you allow the light of the world to shine gently in your own life, you will not really be doing it right.
Finding ourselves in an open space or feeling like a useless broken pot are experiences of humanity through the ages. What challenge do you find in these moments? What invitation?
How is it that five barley loaves and two fish were enough food to fill 5,000 people? And, there were leftovers! How is it then that with all of the resources in the world, so many people are starving?
But the hope of scripture is not tied to any particular outcome. God is not Santa and neither is God the Grinch. Hope lives a life of its own. Hope has much more, I think, to do with presence
… a few weeks ago we were called to the observance of a holy Lent. What does that really mean?
In this episode we continue on the Way of the Cross with stations 5 and 6 – “The Cross is laid on Simon of Cyrene” and “A woman wipes the face of Jesus”
…every year, the liturgical calendar invites us to set aside forty days to be especially intentional about contemplation, growth, soul-searching, prayer, and turning. Surely, life will lead us into personal deserts that will accelerate our spiritual growth if we allow them.
Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.
— Matsuo Basho
Faith is that which gives us the courage and the strength the persevere and to dare. Faith is the thing that gives us wings to carry us over the times of distress in our lives.
It’s my prayer that throughout Lent and in the coming months we can acknowledge the challenges and the callings of following Jesus. That we can see the brokenness in our world and respond. That we can rejoice together in our joys. That we can together sing that it is indeed a wonderful world.