Disclaimer: I know many have begun following because of TJ’s Holy Land encounter. Thanks for your encouragement to him and joining him (and his dad) on this trip. At this point, I’m resuming my blogging and will do so throughout the season of Lent. I hope you’ll continue with me and you’ll journey with me through these 40+ days.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: the early Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church that before the Easter celebration there should be a forty–day season of spiritual preparation. During this season converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism.
It was also a time when persons who had committed serious sins and had separated themselves from the community of faith were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to participation in the life of the Church.
In this way the whole congregation was reminded of the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the need we all have to renew our faith.
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to observe a holy Lent: by self–examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self–denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word. To make a right beginning of repentance,and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel (bow) before our Creator and Redeemer.
And with these words, the season of Lent begins. I didn’t grow up in this tradition. Lent was something those “other” christians observed – the ones who had to do things to earn their salvation. Or that’s what I believed. I’m happy to say I’ve shed such an ugly thought. Instead, Lent has become a season of great importance to me. Even as Christmas trees are coming down, I find myself craving the season of less, of purple fabrics, and of dedicated stillness.
My boys told me the other day they were “looking forward to lent” and one said they loved this season more than Advent. It’s no surprise really – they, like many others both young and old, are seeking for something more than the glitz and blistering pace of time. We’re seeking a season where less is more.
On this Ash Wednesday, I am beginning a new devotional book that I am going to be sharing here on this blog. For some it’ll be a pretty huge challenge as it invites a practice that many protestants struggle with. The book is We Are Beloved: a Lenten Journey with Protestant Prayer Beads. Prayer beads or knotted prayer ropes have been used by christians for almost all 2000 years of the church’s story. But for many in the west, these are just silly trinkets and repetitive prayers.
Several years ago, I stumbled on something called the “Jesus Prayer.” It is a breath prayer and using an orthodox prayer rope, I was invited to live into these words “Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” Breathing these words in and out in prayer changed me – at a deep level. So, when I stumbled on this little book, my spirit whispered to me that this was a practice I needed in this season.
The author, Kristen Vincent, has written several books on prayer beads and the Protestant tradition. She’s not just a writer though, she’s a pray-er. She’s someone who’s living the depth of what she invites others to experience.
The invitation Vincent is inviting me, as her reader, and you as my reader is into a journey of reconnecting to our beloved-ness. You and I are beloved children of the God who’s favorite title is Dad. For some of us that title brings up bad memories, but it doesn’t dismiss an important truth for us to know. God, unlike our earthly fathers, is the Father who longs for us to be close, to be whole, to carry the family name out into a world full of orphans who need the family.
In her Ash Wednesday Chapter, Vincent begins with the gospel teaching from Matthew 6. It’s a teaching about public displays of holiness or piety. Jesus says stop making a show of your tithing and fasting (your worship) and instead get real. This is probably the hardest command for us today. We can squeeze in a church service or maybe even a small service project, but to be still and to get real with our stuff is hard – it may even sound impossible.
But this is Lent. This is a season to do actively be inactive. This is a gift to our busyness. This is an invitation to choose to explore and deepen. This is a season to see the frailty of our life and the depth of our brokenness. It is a season to rid ourselves of the extras for the sake of the One Thing that matters – Jesus. This is a season to hear the God of heaven whisper in your heart that you are wanted, loved and precious.
Each week, Vincent will invite us to explore the work of Jesus and our beloved-ness. She ends each chapter with a prayer bead practice and a meditation. I end this morning with her meditation for us and a beginning. I’m looking forward to journeying with you, beloved. I’m looking forward to the hard parts of stillness and quiet. I’m looking forward to reconnecting. I’m looking forward to encountering Jesus together.
“Help me to be still, Lord”
(You can find Kristen’s book “We are Beloved” at amazon, Kindle or in the iBooks store.
