Forty Days on a Life-Giving Journey

           "For forty wilderness days and nights he was tested by Satan. Wild animals were his companions, and angels took care of him." (Mark 1:13, The Message) 

     Jesus prepared for his ministry by going into the desert for forty days. Our Lenten season in the Presbyterian church is a 40 day period of preparation for Easter. Instead of "giving up" or fasting during Lent, Presbyterians typically "add" something to their normal days to enhance their faith journeys. This year we have a Lenten Devotional that adds more scripture reading and prayers. Although the daily passages and prayers are short, they are meaningful and easy to incorporate into a morning or evening prayer time. Lenten Devotional                                                                       

     My friend, Tracey, has decided to use our Lenten devotional as a daily reminder to do a "life-giving" act each day. She plans to write what she did each day in the devotional to show the completion of this act. One day it might be to simply write a "Thank You" note to a friend. The next day it might be to take some food to a homebound person, or a lonely friend out to lunch. Tracey is inviting her parents to join her so they can compare notes with one another about their life-giving journeys through Lent. 

                 

     Our church has a tradition of offering a Labyrinth prayer walk for anyone in our church and community to experience during Holy Week. The original purpose for the labyrinth was to offer a way for those who could not make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to be able to imagine going to Jerusalem by way of the Labyrinth walk. It has become quite a popular way to pray and walk at the same time. The labyrinth is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness.                                                                                            

     When you walk the labyrinth, you embark on a spiritual journey, allowing space for God amid the usually crammed confines of our minds. The labyrinth is not a maze, which is designed to confuse and challenge, but a circuitous path with no wrong turns or blind alleys. If you continue on the path, you inevitably come to the center where your journey has led you. Click on: Labyrinth Prayer Walk                

     I believe one of the reasons the ancient Labyrinth walks have survived thousands of years is due to the hope they embody. When you walk towards the center and walk out again, you walk with hope for wholeness in your soul. May your Lenten Season be filled with sacred hope that culminates in a blessed Holy Week and Easter. And may you find lfe-giving ways to spread hope in Christ to others. This poem by Jan Richardson gives me good hope and comfort especially needed this busy time of year! 

Hope nonetheless.
Hope despite.
Hope regardless.
Hope still.

Hope where we had ceased to hope.
Hope amid what threatens hope.
Hope with those who feed our hope.
Hope beyond what we had hoped.

Hope that draws us past our limits.
Hope that defies expectations.
Hope that questions what we have known.
Hope that makes a way where there is none.

Hope that takes us past our fear.
Hope that calls us into life.
Hope that holds us beyond death.
Hope that blesses those to come.

Celtic Musical Call to Peace for the Masses

Building Resiliency Through Faith

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”(Hebrews 12:1)

Social science research agrees that there are at least ten key components that build resilience. Two of the top ten are: regular prayer or meditation that calms the mind and body, and participation in a faith-based supportive community.  The need for community support is undeniable. Ever since primitive humans roamed the earth, working and living “in community” has been vital for survival.

This Hebrews passage is one of my favorites about being aware of the role modeling we are doing while living in community, while emphasizing perseverance, and doing what is good for the body, mind, and spirit. God has given us within the Bible an instruction manual for building up resilience. God leaves it up to us to faithfully apply these instructions to our own lives.

Notice how this scripture above highlights the importance of having “a great cloud of witnesses” around you, and throwing off the distractions and things that keep one from being healthy. And notice how it states: “and let US run with perseverance the race marked out for US.” The race in life is not marked out for just you and me, but for US! We are created to go through life in community with one another with the understanding that we are not alone and we are ONE with God who dwells in us and through our actions of love in the world that promote resilience, healing, and wholeness for all.

May you use the time of Lent to focus on doing what is best for your body, mind, and spirit - not just for your own benefit but for the benefit of the whole earth. May you turn to God’s instruction manual for healthy living. And may you find scriptures and prayers that inspire you to live as the Word prescribes for a faithful life that empowers you to endure the struggles that come along with life on earth. Trusting that: “…suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5: 3-5)

Our PCM Lenten Devotional is a good place to start: http://www.pcmorristown.org/files/Documents/Adult%20Education/2012%20Lenten%20Devotional.pdf