Lenten Meditation – March 10, 2009

Tuesday, March 10

 

“How important forgiveness is can’t be exaggerated. One way of putting it is ‘to be at peace with everyone.’ It also means being prepared to take everyone into your heart, willing to share everyone’s pain and joy as if it were your own. . . . This oneness is so close that we are more one than individuals. And so the spiritual journey can never be a privatized set of practices, because whenever you start the spiritual journey, the whole of humanity, and perhaps creation, goes along and shares the journey with you.”   Father Thomas Keating

This is how I feel about Lent, that it is a step in the ongoing walk in unity toward God.  Knowing Lent means knowing one’s own heart.  During Lent, a quieter time than usual, we can contemplate the fullness of life and feel deep gratitude for the path.  Life deepens during Lent.  It quietly waits and rejoices.  It does not act in anger or in impatience, and so we don’t have to either.  I am especially free spiritually during Lent because that is the time I feel most tied to the Lord, to the path, to the walk.  When the path leads us to Easter, to even newer life and resurrection, then “the whole of humanity, and perhaps creation, goes along and shares the journey with” each of us.

Deni Harding

Lenten Meditation – March 9, 2009

Monday, March 9

 

I believe the biggest fear of all, is the act of temptation during those forty days and forty nights. When we give something up we should replace it with something positive.  Setting aside five to ten minutes of uninterrupted time to meditate and pray for our own needs and the needs of others.

            I have dedicated each morning assessing my daily “To Do List”, getting the kids off to school safely, which bill to pay, what to eat… the list goes on and on… each morning begins in prayer and thanks.  I am welcomed to ask God anything I am uncertain about.

            Lent is a time to reflect on building a spiritual relationship with God, it’s also a time to find a comfortable place to worship; where doubts and questions are welcomed:
 
John 4:1-42 My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work
 
                                              Kathleen Cocuzza

Lenten Meditation – March 7, 2009

Saturday, March 7

 

Deuteronomy 11:18  You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul…

 

When I was in elementary school a task to be mastered was memorizing my “times tables”.  I can remember bringing home a new set each week or so and standing at the kitchen counter while my mother peeled potatoes and quizzed me on my multiplication facts.  The one that took the longest to learn was my “nine’s”.  In desperation she finally told me to just memorize the answers and that would make matching them to the question easier.  So off I went….9,18,27,36,45,54,63,72,81,90,99,108.  Rattling them off without any context almost became melodic.  I could and can still say it faster than any other English phrase.  Once I knew the answers I could quickly fit it into the appropriate equations when the situations presented themselves.

 

There is just something wondrous about repetition.  It’s the act of “putting” that seems to count. It has a way of taking something abstract and transforming it into the concrete.  It becomes the new norm and from that building block something fresh and creative can take shape.  Moses must have known the importance of appropriating his words of instruction to Israel at the level of the heart through repetition.  Moses must have known that it is from the heart that we choose the good.  Where, today, do you hear the Good News?  How can the gift of repetition etch hope in a barren land?  Where have you been “surprised by joy”?  How does recalling that story remind you of God’s grace in the unexpected place?

 

Holy and loving God, we thank you for reminding us to “put” good into our lives each day.  Remind us of your daily visitation in ways that we can catch so that we might draw from wellsprings of grace when times seem dry.  Amen.

 

Creative Writing Group, Trinity Cathedral

Lenten Meditation – March 6, 2009

Friday, March 6

 

 

 

 

Ride on, King Jesus!

No man can a-hinder me,

Ride on, King Jesus!

No man can a-hinder me.

 

For He is Lord of Lords,

He is King of Kings,

Jesus Christ, the Only One

No one works like Him!

 

Ride on, King Jesus!

No man can a-hinder me,

Ride on, King Jesus!

No man can a-hinder me.

 

Deuteronomy 10:12-22

“For the Lord your God is God of Gods and Lord of Lords.”

 

Anonymous, St. Martin’s

 

 

Lenten Meditation – March 5, 2009

Thursday, March 5

 

The readings for today remind us of God’s love and omnipotence.  They also point up man’s basic tendency towards weakness, stubbornness and the tendency to choose sinfulness. 

 

Further in the readings we learn that “before him no creature is hidden but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.”  All things belong to God, so He has no need of your finest calf nor your offered-up chocolate, wine or dessert.  He knows your heart already, so (like so many times in younger days) when you “gave-up” something for Lent, but failed part-way through…He knew that in the first place!  And Lo!  You had lived up to your basic nature…weakness…hmm.  Boy, I hate that! So, Psalm 50 reminds us to instead “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.”

 

How do I do that?

 

I think I need to start each day with a prayer of forgiveness for my human faults and then one for thanksgiving for His wonderful creation.  I think this would certainly give a different slant to the start of the day than perhaps… reading the news?!  I will vow to go through the day thanking God for all that is good and with this emphasis in mind, try to contribute to that good in any way I can…big or small, for others.  Mindfulness is a thanksgiving.

 

John tells us that the Light has come into the world, yet the people love the darkness.  In darkness their evil deeds are not illuminated.  Only people that act in truth and in God want to have their motives revealed in light.    It seems to me that those who act in truth don’t need to move into the light to illuminate themselves; their acts will automatically reflect God’s light, and offer to God a “sacrifice” of thanksgiving.

 

Cathy Kleinhenz

Lenten Meditation – March 4, 2009

Wednesday, March 4

 

As a child growing up in the Methodist Church, I do not recall an emphasis on observing a Lenten discipline. However, as an Episcopalian, I have embraced the observance and find it a rewarding experience. Over the years I have practiced self-denial, as well as adding something new to my life. Over time, I find adding something more meaningful.

And, for me, adding something has to do with giving — not necessarily money or material things — although that can be a part of it — but giving of myself to others — a smile, a friendly hello and how are you, a note or card, a prayer, a phone call, a visit, providing hospitality, offering a listening ear or a word of encouragement, visiting a shut-in, sharing my faith, and sharing spiritual material I find helpful. The idea is to reach out and touch another person in some special way each and every day.

By way of example, I have a 1968 edition of Streams in the Desert given to me by a family friend at the time of my mother’s death in June 1969. She wrote and I quote, “As you read from this book daily, may it bring you closer to God. I wanted you to have this instead of flowers, as they would soon be gone, but this can help daily. Our prayers are with you.”

I also have a copy of God Calling given to me in November 1996 following the completion of our Stephen Ministry training signed simply, “To Lou with love from Ed South.”

The above individuals have gone to their reward and eternal home, but they continue to influence my life by having given of themselves in sympathy and in celebration of an accomplishment. Both of the above books have and continue to be a part of my morning daily devotionals and meditation.

So, as my Lenten discipline — I pray God will use me to give of myself to others — something that will endure and not soon be gone. And, hopefully, I will develop a habit or two which I will practice each and every day for the rest of my life.

 

Lou Meyers

Lenten Meditation – March 3, 2009

Tuesday, March 3

      Lent is hardly a week old and yet we have John’s version of the cleansing of the Temple in today’s list of readings. We are used to hearing about this in Holy Week where the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) put it. Indeed the Synoptics seem to point to the cleansing as the proximate cause for the arrest and crucifixion. But I suspect John gets it in the right place: very early in Jesus’ ministry. This is such a dramatic action that it would cause people to notice Jesus right away. Sides would be chosen: you are either for him or against him based on what you heard he did at the Temple. And because the Temple is such a holy place, I suspect a vague resentment begins to build up about how Jesus treated the place. After all it was the one place the people of Israel were assured of encountering God. How dare he judge those who worked there by driving them out.

 

      We tend to choose sides on all manner of events. This year, the year of our Lord two thousand nine, began with an Israeli invasion of the Gaza strip. The Israelis were tired of Hamas firing missiles into Israel. Israel has never accepted that Hamas could control the government in the Gaza strip. As far as Israel and the United States are concerned, Hamas is a terrorist organization. Yet the invasion went badly for Israel. Too many civilians were killed. United Nations relief workers were attacked and a school was destroyed. It is hard to know who the good guys and who the bad guys are in this conflict. Yet we take sides: sometimes because of where we live, sometimes because of our religion, sometimes because we feel an affinity for the oppressed, sometimes because…

 

      Nearly 3500 years ago, give or take a couple of centuries, this conflict started. And God warned about choosing sides. “Know then, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to occupy because of your righteousness; for you are a stubborn people.” (Deut. 9:6) Even at the beginning of the conflict it was God’s judgment and God’s alone. The moment we presume to speak for God and choose sides will be the end of the opportunity to hear God.

 

      I find I have to challenge myself constantly not to choose sides in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and other places I choose sides; but to ask how the both sides are bearing witness to God.

 

Stephen Leonetti+

Lenten Meditation – March 2, 2009

Monday, March 2

 

            Whatever happened to Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima?

 

“Those three Sunday before Lent

will prepare us to repent;

That in Lent we may begin

earnestly to mourn for sin.”

 

I was very proud of myself as a child when I could finally pronounce those three words.  We did indeed prepare, thinking of something we enjoyed so much, to give up for Lent.  Would it be movies, candy, ice cream—or something like roller skating or bicycling to school?  We could walk to school instead.

The day the Lenten boxes came out was the time to declare what we would give up.  Because I grew up during the depression, and no one had much money, pennies were carefully put into the box.  We tried very hard to fill our boxes before Easter Sunday. 

On Easter, we proudly took our boxes up to the altar rail and they were lovingly placed there for all to see.

After Whitsunday all of the Junior Choirs in Los Angeles went to St. Paul’s Cathedral to celebrate the Lenten boxes.  The Contents went for missionary work around the world.  I remember processing in with the choir singing “Crown Him With Many Crowns”.  The choir robes were so colorful and the music truly filled the cathedral.

Not a Lenten or Easter season goes by without my thinking of these things.

            Barbara Medders

Lenten Meditation – Feb. 28, 2009

Saturday, February 28

 

 

 

 

Haiku

Alleluia for Life

Be thankful for life

Breathe in spirit, breathe out world

Oh, rest in the peace

 

 

Mary Ann Lewis

 

 

Lenten Meditation – Feb. 27, 2009

Friday, February 27

 

To me, Lent is a no-nonsense time of year.  I can no longer justify not doing the things I dislike, such as losing a few pounds, cleaning closets, etc.  When I think of the sacrifice our Lord made for us it inspires me more than any other time of year.  I am so grateful for all of God’s blessings.  Lent is a very solemn, sacrificial time but after that we can look forward to Easter morning when we celebrate our Risen Lord. 

 

Dorothy Pendroy