Sometimes the thought of being a child again is appealing. Not so many worldly cares, decisions, responsibilities. A comfortable home provided for you. Time to run and play on the grass.
But many children do bear the weight of what is wrong in the world. Many children have not known the security of a warm home, their own bed, grass to play on, and a stable community in which to live and worship and learn.
This was true of the transient farm workers’ children I went to school with as a young child in the late 50s and early 60s during the few years my family lived in the agricultural valleys of Central California. One town where my preacher father was the pastor of a small church, we lived in a racially mixed neighborhood of lower-middle-class, stable families. My neighborhood playmate was a little black girl. I thought nothing of her color, except maybe fascination; and when we went into her house, I remember her mother as a smiling kind lady who offered me milk and cookies.
I was about 8 when culture shock hit. We moved to a small town in the San Joaquin Valley, where 2/3 of our elementary school were black and Hispanic, many of whom were transient farmworkers’ children. I probably stood with my mouth open the day I first heard the “N” word yelled at a group of kids and then the angry commotion that resulted. I had never seen or felt a group of people, let alone kids, that seemed to throb with such vehemence that day. A busload of children almost rocked with pent-up energy; arms and hands gestured out windows; heads yelled out slang and pejoratives to others on the sidewalk. During recess, gangs ran on the edges of the big playground, and often altercations exploded between groups. The teachers had their hands full trying to control the intensity in the classrooms.
One day, Daddy drove my sister and me out to see a farm labor camp that a local farmer provided for his laborers and their families. I still remember our shock at seeing how some of our classmates lived. A semicircle of little shacks, some with cardboard patching up holes or windows. Old things sitting around. And everywhere just dirt. When it rained a big puddle formed. No grass to play on or trees to climb. No bushes or flowers anywhere. No bicycles or sidewalks to skate on.
As children, my sister and I knew nothing of activists who were even then working to improve the living conditions and wages of farmworkers. But now I look back and realize the great work done by leaders such as Mexican-American labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez. I’m pretty sure some of the farmers in our church in those days weren’t happy that farm labor unions were forming, and that Chavez was organizing protests and negotiating for better contracts and laws.
Why is it that even Christian people often are slow to see such needs and embrace changes that are good for humanity? Yes, farmers were trying to make ends meet and realize a profit from their crops. Towns wanted order, not conflict. Schools wanted clean, healthy students sitting quietly at desks, ready to learn. And in the context of the Cold War, fears abounded that unions and other activist community organizations might be fronts for Marxist elements.
Life is messy. But society is only as stable and strong as its least powerful members. Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) knew this. Along with Dolores Huerta, he founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee to become the United Farm Workers labor union. His politics combined with Roman Catholic social teachings. He was influenced by reading about the lives of St. Francis of Assisi and Mahatma Gandhi, and others to engage in nonviolent protest.
He organized workers, led protests, hunger strikes and fasts, and formed alliances. During his public fast in 1968, he received this telegram from Martin Luther King, Jr.:
You stand today as a living example of the Gandhian tradition with its great force for social progress and its healing spiritual powers. My colleagues and I commend you for your bravery, salute you for your indefatigable work against poverty and injustice, and pray for your health and your continuing service as one of the outstanding men of America.1
Through the many years of hard work and dedication of Chavez and others, the farm workers union became a political force whose support was sought by presidential candidate John F. Kennedy as well as California gubernatorial candidate Ronald Reagan. When Kennedy was assassinated, Chavez served as a pallbearer at his funeral. In the 1970s he met with Pope Paul VI, who commended his activism.
Chavez was (and remains) a controversial figure. But his lifelong, tireless work on behalf of unjust conditions for farmworkers, especially Chicanos in agricultural California, has had lasting good effect. His work continues to influence activists both in ecological ethics and in keeping the focus on human dignity—and, I would add, hope for the children.
In an open letter to the grape industry amid the Grape Strike, Chavez wrote:
The men and women who have suffered and endured much and not only because of our abject poverty but because we have been kept poor. The color of our skins, the languages of our cultural and native origins, the lack of formal education, the exclusion from the democratic process, the numbers of our slain in recent wars — all these burdens generation after generation have sought to demoralize us, to break our human spirit. But God knows we are not beasts of burden, we are not agricultural implements or rented slaves, we are men. And mark this well [..] we are men locked in a death struggle against man’s inhumanity to man in the industry you represent. And this struggle itself gives meaning to our life and ennobles our dying.2
__________________________
Notes: 1 & 2 Accessed at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesar_Chavez
Photo Credits:
- Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin migrant workers collection (AFC 1985/001), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
- National Farm Workers Association protest buttons, Creative Commons
- CAESAR CHAVEZ, MIGRANT WORKERS UNION LEADER in 1972, public domain
- An example of housing for farmworkers and families in mid-20th century in California, public domain
Lent continues, the season is still full of possibility and promise. Are you finding ashes and desiring beauty? Now available as an online course, this virtual retreat will help you to lay out your garment of lament and put on your garment of praise. Gather your joys and release your grief with Christine Sine and Lilly Lewin! Click here for more info!
by Rodney Marsh
“Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up.” (Ex 3:2) Then, that fire of God’s Spirit began to burn on in Moses to free God’s people and bring them to a new land. This is God’s way.
Recently another devastating summer bushfire came close to where I live when more than 2000 Ha (5000 acres) of forest and farmland (including four homes) were literally reduced to ashes. All leaves, twigs, branches and bushes have been consumed. The ground is bare and white as snow. The ash creates an eerie background for the black statuesque tree trunks and the naked black skeletons of taller shrubs. One thing is certain following such an all-consuming fire: after the winter rains (May to September), from August to December (spring and early summer), the white ashes will be replaced by green shoots on the bushes and trees and a vast variety of blue, white, orange and red spring flowers will emerge from the devastation. The bush will bloom with “wreathes of flowers instead of ashes” (Is 61:3). There is nothing surer!
The church year begins with Advent (looking forward to the coming) which gives way to Epiphany (a time of uncovering the meaning of the coming) which yields to Lent (a time of strengthening and preparation for our participation in the Coming One’s death and resurrection). The ‘beauty from ashes’ theme has caused me to think about the place of ashes and beauty in the times of Advent, Epiphany, Lent and Easter based on Isaiah 61:3 (CEV) “The Lord has sent me to comfort those who mourn… He sent me to give them flowers in place of their sorrow (“to give unto them beauty for ashes” AV/KJV)”. He will do this. There is nothing surer!
Fire & Loss
Ashes can only form as a result of a fierce, destructive fire – less intense fires leave charcoal. I first noticed the presence of ‘fire’ in the Lectionary readings for Advent when the fiery preaching of John the Baptist (Luke 3:1-20) heralded the advent and epiphany of the Messiah. John’s preaching foretold the two types of fire that would accompany the coming servant in his kingly status and mission: an all-consuming, destructive fire of judgement and a purifying, creative fire of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
John fulsomely explains the fires of judgement that would accompany the advent of the Messiah, “An axe is ready to cut the trees down at their roots. Any tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire…” for the Messiah’s “threshing fork is in his hand, and he is ready to separate the wheat from the husks. He will store the wheat in his barn and burn the husks with a fire that never goes out”( Luke 3:9,17). John predicted that, when the Messiah came, the fires of judgement would rage and destroy all that is not from God. It doesn’t sound like John, at that time, would have chosen the themes of “hope”, “peace”, “joy” and “love” as themes to characterise the coming of the Messiah!
Ashes
The ‘ashes’ of Lent following these fires of Advent and Epiphany seem to be a necessary prelude to the beauty of the new life of Easter followed by the growth of Pentecost. In Jesus’ day ashes represented mourning and are associated with loss, lament and shame. The Bible records mourners as expressing their grief by tears, tearing their clothes and covering their heads with ashes. When Job’s family were killed, he lost his property and his body became leprous, he “sat on the ash-heap to show his sorrow” and when his empathetic friends visited him on the ash-heap they too, “in their great sorrow, tore their clothes, then sprinkled ash on their heads and cried bitterly” (Job 2:8,12). Tamar, after being raped, “tore the robe she was wearing and put ashes on her head. Then she covered her face with her hands and cried loudly as she walked away” (2 Sam 13:19). For Tamar, wailing, torn clothing, and ashes all expressed her shame and grief at what has happened. Today Tamar would probably have been diagnosed with PTSD, for, despite being taken in by family, her trauma meant “she was always sad and lonely.” Ash was probably used as a symbol for mourning because ashes signified mortality. When God told Adam “you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen3:19) the Hebrew word is “ash,” as in the above references. Insofar as death and suffering are seen to be ‘judgement,’ ashes are also associated with sin and guilt, but this is not a common association. In the past, Lenten practises have over-emphasised guilt, sin and repentance rather than our human task of facing up to our own and others’ suffering and mortality. Ashes signify the suffering and death that are our participation in this passing-away world. In addition, the theme ‘beauty for ashes’ well summarises Jesus’ Lenten, testing journey to the cross. The question of Lent then becomes ‘How can we turn the ashes of our lives to beauty?’ Answer: we can’t, God can.
Beauty
To replace ashes with beauty was Jesus’ mission. The phrase “beauty for ashes” comes from Isaiah 61:3 and this is part of the “Servant Song” that Jesus chose to read when he began his public ministry. Luke records that in the synagogue at Nazareth Jesus “was given the book of Isaiah the prophet.” He unrolled it and read from Isaiah 61 “The Lord’s Spirit has come to me, because he has chosen me to tell the good news to the poor. The Lord has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners, to give sight to the blind, to free everyone who suffers, and to say, ‘This is the year the Lord has chosen.’” (Lk 4:17-19). Then he sat down to begin his sermon on that text. Living in an aural culture meant few men could read (Jesus was apparently among them) so, instead, large portions of Scripture were ‘learned by heart.’ Those who heard Jesus would have recalled the words that follow the section that Jesus read… “The Lord has sent me to comfort those who mourn, especially in Jerusalem. He sent me to give them flowers in place of their sorrow, olive oil in place of tears, and joyous praise in place of broken hearts.” (Is 61:3). Then Jesus preached a very short sermon: “What you have just heard me read has come true today.” If we assume that the congregation knew the contents of all of this Servant Song, then Jesus was claiming the Servant’s role to “comfort those who mourn” as his task. The Servant’s comforting, healing role was central for Jesus. He said later, “Blessed are those who mourn – they shall be comforted” because he knew that this was his role and he would do it. So still today Jesus’ Spirit brings forth beauty from the ashes of your life and mine. This is her task.
Isaiah 61 speaks to a deeply traumatised nation whose capital has been destroyed and whose people had become refugees. Here we see the three traditional mourning responses: Tears flowed from their broken hearts. Ashes enshrouded their heads as a sign of their grief and, as a sign of their sadness, dull, heavy, coarse garments weighed down their bodies. Isaiah predicts that the Lord will appoint a Servant who will “comfort their mourning.” There will be no more tears, instead they will be anointed with the joyful oil of celebration. Their drab clothes will be gone and the Servant will dress them in colourful robes for the coming party. Instead of ashes, the Servant will adorn their heads with a beautiful crown of flowers. In faith we believe Jesus is the servant who will do this for us. Not in some hoped-for future, but here and now in our lives as they are. How?
Ashes and Beauty, Death and Resurrection
Jesus is the link between Ashes and Beauty, Lent and Easter. Jesus could take his Lenten journey to the cross and beyond because he was “focused on the joy that was set before Him.” It was obedience to his Father that led him to the cross and faith in his Father that empowered him to see beyond the cross to “the joy set before him.” The comfort of the Servant Jesus (the party robes, anointing with joy, and a crown of beauty) is given to those who join, and only those who join, Jesus in his Lenten journey.
This will involve ashes, for comfort can only be given to those who mourn. We will suffer, such is our humanity, and following suffering, we will grieve and mourn our losses. This is the only soil in which the seeds of beauty in us can sprout, grow and flower. Mourning is therefore our necessary Lenten journey to the cross. When Bonhoeffer said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die,” he was repeating Jesus’ call to “take up your cross and follow me.” The intense fire that produces ash is our death to all that belongs to our false self. Such a consuming fire, as Jesus’ experience shows, is essential to uncover our true self ‘hidden in Christ with God’ (“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” Col 3:3). Viewed in this way, suffering in its myriad forms (including death) are the essential ‘loss of all things in order to gain Christ’ (Phil 3:8). Remember, it is only the resultant ash heap of our lives (Paul calls his ash heap ‘garbage’) that can yield “wreathes of flowers instead of ashes” and that there is only one person who can die to your false self – you! This process of ‘dying to self’ begins now, but it is a ‘becoming’ which is not complete until our bodily resurrection. Meanwhile, in this ‘vale of tears’, we are always learning, daily focussing on, and catching more glimpses of, the beauty and joy which awaits us. Resurrection can only be given to those who join Jesus on his Lenten journey to the cross and then we also join Jesus as he shares with us God’s gift of beauty and joy in resurrection to life.
The gift of beauty for ashes is pure grace, and, though faith and obedience are always present, and comfort a sure promise, beauty revealed to us and in us – is God’s gift alone. And the timing of this gift is not ours to engineer. The gift of beauty for ashes is what John calls our baptism in the fire of the Holy Spirit – the fire that does not consume but renews and regenerates. The journey from Advent, through Epiphany and Lent and on to Easter and Pentecost represents, not only the path that Jesus walked but also the journey we must continually make if we are to follow him. We pass through the fires of loss, then are given the comfort of Spirit and glimpse the beauty, joy and hope that calls us on.
Practices
- In Isaiah’s time three rituals were used to signify mourning and receiving the gift of joy in place of grief: adornment of the head (ashes to flowers or ‘crown’) clothing of the body (sackcloth to colourful robes) and ritual actions (weeping or wailing to singing and dancing). What adornments, clothing and actions could your family or community use to ritualise and enable the mourning of Good Friday to prepare for the gift of joy on Easter Sunday?
- How do you respond to these sayings on beauty?
- “When we see Beauty she always introduces her companions: joy and love.”
- “Beauty, Truth and Goodness form a divine triad. No one of these can exist without the presence of the others.”
- “Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty – that is all you know on earth, and all you need to know” (John Keats).
- The tree in the photo is a desert tree called a “gimlet” (EUCALYPTUS salubris) from Kalgoorlie (Western Australia). The gimlet has a smooth copper coloured trunk and branches which reflect the glow in the setting sun. When I photographed this one I thought of the bush that Moses saw ‘which burned but was not consumed’.
Journey through Lent with this downloadable bundle featuring Prayer Cards, 40 Daily Ideas Guide for Lent, and our Lenten devotional – A Journey Into Wholeness: Soul Travel from Lent to Easter. Bundled together for convenience and savings!
My apologies – Last week Lilly Lewin and I recorded what I think was one of the best Facebook live sessions we have held. However as Holy Week and Good Friday are still a couple of weeks away there is still plenty of time to listen to this. Let us know what you think
photos and words by June Friesen
Lamentations 3:19-33 (The Message)
IT’S A GOOD THING TO HOPE FOR HELP FROM GOD
19-21 I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember— the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there’s one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:22-24 God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
He’s all I’ve got left.25-27 God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks.
It’s a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God.
It’s a good thing when you’re young to stick it out through the hard times.28-30 When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself.
Enter the silence.
Bow in prayer.Don’t ask questions:
Wait for hope to appear.
Don’t run from trouble.Take it full-face.
The “worst” is never the worst.31-33 Why?
Because the Master won’t ever walk out and fail to return.
If he works severely,he also works tenderly.
His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.
He takes no pleasure in making life hard,
in throwing roadblocks in the way
WOW, WOW, WOW!!!
These verses are so, so, so packed with God!
BUT FIRST LET ME SHARE THE LAMENT I HEAR THEN, AND EVEN NOW IN MY OWN SPIRIT TODAY…..
Desperation! Anxiety! Hopelessness! Emptiness!
Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!
How can there be any more ugliness, hurt, violence, unanswered evil power?
How can there be any more disregard of life –
It should not matter where one lives – the world is God’s –
He created it for the habitation of all of creation –
Yet, it seems that some allow greed and power to dictate saying–
“Not only what is mine is mine but –
If I want what is yours, or what you think/claim is yours
Well let me tell you I have a right to it as well,”
And if you choose not to give it over readily –
Well, I will just have to take it from you –
And if you decide to try and dispute me –
Well, I will just eradicate you from the place
And maybe even eradicate you from the planet as well.
God, how can this be?
How can humanity whom You created in such perfection
Now be so void of anything that is of You –
So empty of love –
So compassionless –
So rude and sometimes ruthless –
God, there are ruins –
Ruins not only of things –
Ruins not only of nature –
But ruins of humanity –
Some lives become ruined in physical death –
Some lives become ruined in physical health –
Some lives become ruined in physical ability –
Some lives become ruined in physical means –
It is impossible to continue to sustain life – or at least life as it once was.
Some lands are ruined by the ravages of wars being fought –
Some lands are ruined by the ravages of natural disasters –
Some lands are ruined by lack of proper care as You planned humanity to do –
Some lands just lay in ruins because of fear of being seen trying to continue to live.
Some waters have wasted away because of drought –
Some waters are unpalatable due to contamination of many kinds –
It may be human-caused or it may be environmental caused –
It may be because of droughts –
It may be caused by selfishness and inconsideration or lack of education.
God, I pause –
I have to wonder –
I begin to feel that somehow Your heart is broken –
To see the mound of ashes that humanity has created of Your perfect gift in the beginning – THE GARDEN OF EDEN!
Yes, Ashes –
Ashes are all that I have to offer You today –
The ashes of the world that I live in –
The ashes that I have created during my life, in my life,
The ashes I have created of the world around me –
In nature, creation as well as in the lives of others –
Oh God, what a big pile of ashes this is beginning to be
As I ponder the things that I desire to give to You
The things that are in need of new beginnings –
Possibly for me as well as others too.
I give to You O God my careless thinking when gardening and using of the plants so selfishly,
Not thinking of the residue that I maybe was creating or stealing without replacing for another to use,
I give to You for the times I allowed things to die or rot without offering them to another,
God, please forgive me even now as I often buy and even use without a grateful heart
The resources to sustain my life when others are without.
I give to You my careless actions when I am preparing things for use
By myself or maybe even for others –
How many times I toss parts away that could actually be used another day or another way,
Or the times I neglect someone who but needs a drink of water, a bite to eat, or the warmth of a caring touch,
Or the times I ignore the prompting in my spirit coming from You –
Urging me to look into the eyes that are just longing to be acknowledged as being.
Yes, ashes Lord –
My actions, attitude, words or even the absence thereof
Have accumulated a pile of rubble and ash –
Sadly, not only in my own life –
But also, how often have I contributed to the ashes of another person’s life?
But what is before me now God?
There is a crossroads before me –
And on the one side You are beckoning me to come –
Not only to come but You are inviting me to surrender to You –
All the ashes I have managed to accumulate over time –
I hesitate – You are patient –
I falter – You reach out to steady me –
I look into Your eyes – I see love –
I look down at my being – You raise my chin to gaze upon You –
I try to speak – but the words seem so empty – You wait –
I reach down into my spirit – hesitantly –
I look up to see Your hands outstretched –
I look down into my spirit again – pondering – should I let go –
I look up again and this time I notice the scars on Your hands –
From Your hands my eyes rise to Your eyes –
I notice a tear – forming in Your eyes –
And now one escapes and rolls down Your cheek –
I look back down into my spirit –
Wondering what You could possibly do with the mess of ashes I am holding right now?
And then –
In weeping I fall at Your feet –
Pouring out the ashes that I have hoarded so long –
I dump, and I empty, and wonder when will I get done –
Even thinking, “What will I do with all this emptiness inside of me now?”
I pause – I hear my name –
“Thank you, my child, for giving me all these ashes today,
I am going to now begin the process of filling you with my beauty,
I see that you now have allowed Your love for me to be alive in you,
This love will consist of love for yourself as I have made you,
It will also bring to growth my love for others around you and that you will meet,
I will begin a new process of healing your woundedness
No matter is old, new, or wounds that you will yet experience;
I will begin to birth in you My Love –
My love for yourself as well as others –
I will begin to birth in you My forgiveness –
My forgiveness for yourself as well as for others –
I will begin to birth in you My healing –
My healing for all your wounds from others as well as your own self-wounding,
And then a healing you can extend to others you meet along the way.
There may be more ashes along the way that you will find,
But please remember that I am with you always –
And if you just pass those ashes to me –
Oh I will make beautiful things of them as well.
I love you my dear child……
Thank you for giving your ashes to me –
I love you my dear child…..
Your ashes will soon be:
Amazing –
Son – inspired –
Helpful to many –
Extravagantly a blessing –
Showing My Presence to others. Amen
Join Christine Sine, Tom Sine, and others for Inhabit 2022 on April 29-30th in Seattle- a live conference by Parish Collective. Explore stories of hope and be encouraged to be the church in your neighborhood. You are not alone – the everyday realities are carried by us all. Click here for more info!
Life doesn’t happen the way we want it to. I love the beauty of spring, but the asthma and allergies it awakens in my body are something I wish I didn’t have to cope with. We know God loves us, but that love isn’t always expressed in the ways we hoped for either.
As I sat here this morning thinking about this I realized that what I need more than anything in this challenging season is a change in perspective both of the ways I perceive my problems and the ways I perceive God’s interaction in them.
As I thought about this I was reminded of a walk I took along a beach in Tsawwassen B.C. with my friend Kim Balke. The breathtaking beauty of the mountains, the salty freshness of wind and the barrenness of the trees were all inspiring. In one tree sat 5 bald eagles, majestically surveying the morning scene. Not wanting to disturb the serenity of our walk, I decided to photograph them on the way back.
However as we headed back towards the car, the barren tree in which the eagles perched looked empty. I immediately started making fresh plans to return for a photoshoot. As we moved closer something remarkable happened, however – suddenly the eagles came into view. How they had hidden from view in that barren tree I don’t know, but they had.
Rethinking the Path Ahead
I chose the photo above for this post because the different labyrinths and the Celtic cross are all images that remind me to think differently about the path ahead. Here are some thoughts that came to me as I reminisced on this pleasant memory this morning and meditated on my labyrinths and cross.
- How do I need to rethink my plans, perceptions, and understandings in order to move forward into the promises of God? So often I make new plans because I can’t see what I hope for. Sometimes I mess up and get ahead of what God is doing because I think I understand. A little like Abraham trying to get a son and not seeing how God could possibly accomplish it. At other times my vision is limited because I have not walked far enough along God’s path to see what is really there. Impatience, limited understanding, lack of faith; they all distort my perspective and make it hard for me to see life from God’s viewpoint. How often do we all mess up what God is wanting to accomplish in our lives because we don’t trust that God is able to accomplish all that is promised?
- Rethinking my perspective of God: To be honest, when life gets tough, especially when I get sick, it is hard for me to believe in a loving God. Yet contemplating a loving God rather than a punitive God reduces anxiety and depression and increases feelings of security, compassion and love (How God Changes Your Brain). If I rethink my asthma and allergies through the framework of a loving God I realize that these have made me more aware of my breathing and as I focus on my breathing and breathe more slowly, I become more relaxed and secure in the love of God.
- Rethinking transition times: As the seasons change what do I need to let go of in order to fully enter the richness of this new season? This is a question I usually ask myself at the end of each calendar season, but I realize it is also an important question to ask during any transition. Maybe I am more like the Hebrews than I like to think. They only let go of the leeks and garlic of Egypt with reluctance even though they knew that God promised them a land of abundance.
- Rethinking the language we use: As I look at our world, what language do I need to change to become a better steward not just of the earth itself, but of caring for neighbours and justice for the vulnerable. Have you noticed that “progress” usually means cutting down more trees? And a prosperous economy usually means lots of benefits for the wealthy and few if any for the poor? Maybe we even need to invent new language to help us see and hear more clearly.
- Rethinking who I am not in terms of what Christ has done for me, but in terms of what Christ wants to do through me for others gives me more of the perspective Jesus lived with. What if I read life: through the lens of laughter and fun? through the filter of justice and peace? through the framework of gratitude and thankfulness?
Not surprisingly, my thoughts this morning also led me to a new prayer poem that focused on breathing.
Breathe in,
Know the exquisite wonder
Of being fully alive.
Let the eternal breath fill you
with light and love and beauty.
Breathe out,
Let your light shine
for all the world to see.
Each breath a pause, a death,
And then reborn in wonder.
Breathe in,
Until the glory
of the ever present, ever caring One,
penetrates your soul.
Relish this moment,
Of God’s creative presence.
Breathe out,
Share the wonder of eternal love,
Rejoice in awe at the unknown path ahead.
Let the holy and righteous One,
Lead us into life.
(c) Christine Sine 2022
Hebrews 11:1 reminds us: Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. So let’s all keep walking today along the path that God spreads out before us. Let’s hold onto God’s promises believing that in the right time and in the right place God’s perspective will burst in upon us and enable us to see.
Looking for resources to embrace Lent? We have several wonderful options available in our shop. Or visit our Lent & Easter Resource Page to find them–from liturgies to activities to inspirational posts to free downloads and more!
This liturgy of prayer for Ukraine was graciously provided by Alissa Case of Little Way Chapel. You can find her on Instagram @littlewaychapel
– Alissa Case of Little Way Chapel.
Now listen to this beautiful prayer and offer up your own prayers for Ukraine
by Melissa Taft
We are well into Lent, and just into the beginning of a season’s change. I do find it interesting that this season of the church coincides with seasons of growth, change, and harvest all over the world. In the Northern Hemisphere, we are heading into spring while the Southern Hemisphere’s summer is waning into autumn. Both seasons are full of work in the garden – sowing and growing, as well as preparing and even harvesting. We don’t always think of Spring as a season of harvest – but those wintered crops and early spring vegetables/cool weather lettuces are best plucked before the heat of summer. Nor do we always think of autumn as a season of growth – but cool weather crops are able to grow again, and some flowers and shrubs put on their most spectacular displays during that season.
And it is in this context of ordinary days that Lent falls. From seasons of hidden, steady growth to seasons of unfurling stems and fruiting vines; of watching a seed be buried unseen in the dirt only to give way to abundant verdant life, of leaves putting on spectacular displays before giving way to the needs of the tree and burying themselves beside it to further nourish and sustain the tree throughout the winter. St Francis de Sales noted: “Lent is the autumn of the spiritual life during which we gather fruit to keep us going for the rest of the year.”
I encourage you to keep Lent in mind as you go about your garden tasks. Whether you are in autumn gearing up for winter, or in spring delighting in the new greens that follow the winter – consider honoring Lent in the garden, making your gardening a spiritual practice. Christine put together a list of excellent resources on spirituality and gardening in this post here. You may also enjoy her free download on Creating A Faith-Based Community Garden, as it has many resources listed there as well. Whether spring or autumn, you might enjoy working Christine’s Harvest Litanies into your Lenten devotions or times of contemplation.
In fact, there are several excellent resources on gardening and spirituality in our shop. Whether you are a novice gardener or an expert, Christine Sine’s book To Garden With God is sure to inspire and instruct. It is also available as a download or bundled together with prayer cards. And we are still offering the extremely popular course Spirituality of Gardening, in which Christine and other expert gardeners discuss organic gardening tips, spiritual lessons of gardening, and more.
Perhaps you’d like to garden during Lent or even create a Lenten garden but you do not have a plot of land. You might check out these posts for ideas:
- Meditation Monday: Creating a Lenten Garden
- Gardening for Lent
- More About Gardening for Lent
- Celebrating Holy Week With Kids
For more inspiration on spirituality and gardening, you may wish to check out these posts:
- Meditation Monday: The Garden Walk of Holy Week
- Spiritual Insights From The Garden
- To Plant A Garden
- Gardening With God
- Freerange Friday: What’s The Gardener Up To In Your Garden?
- Life as a Gardener
- Garden Resource Page
- Seasons Resource Page
Lent is a season of preparation, growth, renewal, and promise. It is not easy, there is work to be done. But just like the seasons in the garden; the hope- born of ground and death, dirt and change, toil and breath – brings new life abundant.
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