EASTER. It is that time of year, again.
We will all, no doubt, follow Jesus on His journey from entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to the crucifixion, five days later, on Golgotha, just outside that same city. As with the Christmas story, we can be over familiar with its details, and in our presumption, it is possible to miss what God might want us to see.
…‘Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me”. (Luke 9:23)
What does taking up our cross look like for me, for you? We know that we won’t physically have to bear the weight of a wooden cross, heavy and roughly hewn, so cumbersome and awkward to carry. We will not be publicly crucified and are unlikely to be put to death.
As I ponder His cross and see what took Him there, I glimpse the possibility of what mine might also look like – the jealousy of others, the criticisms, misunderstandings and betrayal. Jesus was judged wrongly amidst the mistaken expectations of those who knew Him and of those who knew Him not.
With this I can identify – these, I have dealt with before, very occasionally, well with mercy and patience, but more often than not, with anger and outrage. Triggered pain from unhealed wounds, lying deep and dormant, rushes up to greet me and the onslaught reminds me that I am broken. I lash out. I expose the weakness of others in order to feel better about myself. I defend and justify my actions and my words. These violent scenarios more often than not, play out in my head, but nonetheless, this is my indignant and very real reaction, whether real or imagined.
But Jesus did not need to defend Himself; He did not have to justify His actions or His words; Jesus could remain silent. He was the perfect Son, so secure in the affection of His Abba Daddy – so confident in the good, good will of the Father, so rooted and grounded in the love of God, that there was no need to say even a word.
‘I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you’ (John 14:18)
His coming to me has changed everything and yes, even my orphan tendencies are gradually diminishing as I embrace sonship, but they still rise up from time to time. They hit me in the face and surprise me when I least expect it – this then is my cross – to bear with grace and humility the process of death to self. Dying to the right to be heard, to be loved, to be acknowledged, to be seen, to be significant.
For me, it is a hard and torturous road, but certainly far less so than the road so beautifully walked by the Son of God.
Thanks to Wesley Tingey @wesleyphotography for making this feature photo available freely on Unsplash.
More Holy Week and Easter Resources here!
by Christine Sine
Last week, I started working on a new contemplative garden; this one with the theme “Waiting for Love”.
It all began last week when I was thinking about how much hate there is in our world. I was weeping for the Asian American women killed in Atlanta, the huge loss of black lives from violence and brutality, the animosity towards those at the Mexican border trying to come into the U.S. for a better way of life and towards those who have different political or religious views; even towards those who still wear masks. Then there was the shooting in Boulder, Colorado. The list goes on and on and I know that it is not just here in the U.S. that we are experiencing such animosity.
Just planted Waiting for Love contemplative garden (c)Christine Sine
My heart aches, too, for the Christians caught up in this web of hatred and I think of our great God whose love embraces every single one of us. It’s time to love, I thought, and what better time to proclaim and demonstrate that love than at Easter. So I decided to create this new garden. The heart shaped stones create a path to the cross, to the tomb and out into the world. I sprinkled wildflower seed over it and every day eagerly look at my garden to see what has sprouted.
Detail Waiting for Love contemplative garden (c)Christine Sine
What struck me this morning as I smiled over my garden and the sprouts growing rapidly towards the light, even in some cases pushing up around my stones – I am looking not for signs of death, but of life. Easter is about the incredible love of God, not the death of Christ. That reminded me of two of my favourite gospel passages:
16 For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life. 17 Here’s the point. God didn’t send His Son into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction.
16 We know what true love looks like because of Jesus. He gave His life for us, and He calls us to give our lives for our brothers and sisters.
17 If a person owns the kinds of things we need to make it in the world but refuses to share with those in need, is it even possible that God’s love lives in him? 18 My little children, don’t just talk about love as an idea or a theory. Make it your true way of life, and live in the pattern of gracious love.
My garden speaks to me of the deep love of the eternal God of our universe who gave a son to live and die so that we might have life, just as my seeds have died and lived again to find life. But that is not where the story ends. Jesus life, death and resurrection gave us an incredible example of what the deep love of God looks like, but asks in return that we don’t just talk about love but that we “make love our true way of life”.
Growing towards love
What is your response?
Find something heart shaped to hold in your hand this week, or else, draw a heart on a piece of paper, cut it out and place it in your hand. Reflect on the love of God and the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Now reflect on your own life. What might God be asking you to put to death this week so that you can more fully make love your true way of life in the Easter season?
Gift of Wonder, Breath, and Celtic Prayer cards on sale now until March 30th!
I am so appreciative of these contemplative services with music in the style-of-Taize for Palm Sunday from St Andrews Episcopal Church in Seattle. I hope you enjoy this week’s as much as I did.
A contemplative service with music in the style-of-Taize for Palm Sunday. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756 with additional notes below:
“Even in Sorrow” was composed by Kester Limner in March 2020 for the people of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Seattle, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY).
“Rabboni Beloved” is by Kester Limner and Andy Myers, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY).
“Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)” is a traditional Black American Spiritual in the public domain. Arrangement by Kester Limner, shared under the Creative Commons license, attribution (CC-BY).
“Lord Be With Us” is a Kyrie composed by Kester Limner, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY).
“Stay With Me” – is a song from the Taize community. Arranged by Kester Limner and Andy Myers with words and music by J. Berthier, copyright 1982 by GIA/Les Presses de Taizé.
Gift of Wonder, Breath, and Celtic Prayer cards on sale now until March 30th!
A long year…
Can we give ourselves permission to be where we are today?
To be sad
To be broken hearted
To be exhausted by a year of uncertainty & loss.
To be just done with it all!
Done with the conflict of us vs them
Done with the hatred
Done with verbal violence
Done with gun violence
Done with fights over simple things or things that should be simple….
Rain
Thunder
Wind
Wash over us
Cleanse us
Blow out the cobwebs of self centeredness
Help us have new eyes to see
To truly see
One another
To truly see the beauty around us
And in us.
Cry.
Feel it all …
Pay attention
Notice
Be kind
And have compassion
for yourself
And for others.
It’s been a very long year.
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
Prayer Cards Sale continues until March 30th!
Our apologies to those of you who have been unable to order cards during our sale last week.
We extended the sale until March 30th!
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Gift of Wonder Prayer Cards
We have also created a special set of Gift of Wonder prayer cards to compliment Christine’s newest book, The Gift of Wonder. These cards are designed to enrich your study of The Gift of Wonder. Prayers from the book are illustrated with images to assist your contemplation on each of these 12 cards. The back of each card provides a short excerpt with a question for you to reflect on as you study and process what you are reading.
Celtic Prayer Cards
Each set contains 10 prayers inspired by ancient Celtic saints like Patrick and Columba or by contemporary Celtic writers like John O’Donohue. A short reflection on the back of each card will introduce you to the Celtic Christian tradition. These cards can be used by individuals for daily meditation or by groups. They can also be used for spiritual direction, counseling and grief therapy. Celtic Prayer Cards with prayers by Christine Sine and crafted by Hilary Horn with Celtic design and contemplative Celtic imagery.
Breath Prayer Cards
God breathed and soil became human beings (Genesis 2:7). The resurrected Jesus breathed and his disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, giving birth to the new creation (John 20: 22).
Some feel that the very name YHWH is meant to be breathed rather than spoken. From the moment we are born, until we die, every breath we take is a breathing in of the life of God and a breathing out to share God’s love and life with the world. Breathing in YH and out WH is a simple breathing exercise which can be combined with one of the prayers in this set.
Unique design with a breath word and prayer, each card will help lead you into a powerful meditation. Set of 12 prayers designed by Hilary Horn, written by Christine Sine and photographs by Christine.
guest post by Gary Heard,
Legend has it that there is a sign on an Alaskan highway that reads “Choose your rut carefully. You’ll be in it for the next sixty miles.” It reflects a time when the runners on a sled created a furrow in the snow, which was of such a depth that once you were in it, you were committed to the journey of the person or people who went before you. Breaking out of the rut requires significant effort and determination to chart a different course.
This time last year most of us were forced out of the ruts we had not only become accustomed to, but were deeply embedded in the journey they charted. The impacts of the global pandemic forced changes to our work patterns, disrupted our social connections, changed our public behaviours, and required us to take cautions when encountering the unfamiliar. For many, this change became a new rut, creating resistance to a return to pre-COVID practices. Working from home is just one aspect of this.
It is rare that we are given opportunity to break out of such routines and habits. The systems and practices we create become so deeply ingrained that we cannot imagine an alternative way of living, working or being. Necessity not only become the mother of invention in the last twelve months, but has created a new rut. If only there was a way we could take a regular stocktake of practices and lifestyles and adjust them to better ways of being.
The season of Lent is intended to be that very vehicle to do so.
While we tend to think of the Lenten season as giving up something as a sacrifice in order to prepare ourselves for the Easter week, its real invitation goes much deeper. Rather than giving up something peripheral, Lent is an invitation to consider our ruts. To reflect upon the habits and patterns of our lives in order to discern whether we are living faithfully to the call of Christ. By reducing the Lenten season to giving up something in our lives, we are essentially committing to a leaner journey for six weeks, rather than evaluating the very journey itself.
The last day before Lent is Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Tuesday, a day in which households were to purge all leaven from the pantry – a symbol not only of sin, but of paring back to the bare necessities in order to prepare for the new. Many traditions include the ritual burning of previous year’s holy week palms (often folded into the shape of a cross) which then provides the ashes with which we are marked on the following day (Ash Wednesday). It is a reminder of the power of death and resurrection to which we commit ourselves – removing the old and preparing for the new.
While there can be significant benefit in “giving up something” for Lent – especially if it creates extra space in our lives for reflection, we do ourselves – and the season – a disservice if we do not look more deeply into the patterns of our life and the impact they have on our identity. If at the end of the Lenten season we simply return to what was, we have wasted the opportunity – just as a return to pre-COVID ways of being will be a terrible waste in so many ways.
The Lenten season gives way to Holy Week, the culmination of which is the commemoration of the death of Christ and the proclamation of His resurrection. Death to the old, resurrection to the new.
If Lent is to truly prepare us for Holy Week and the Easter events, we must accept the invitation to consider the ruts in which we have lived over the past 12 months, and hear the invitation to chart a different path. What that might look like for each of us is something we can only learn through the discipline of the season. And it is the invitation of the One who said, “I have come that they might have life in all its fullness.” The Lenten journey is an important aspect of accepting this invitation and discovering the meaning of this promise.
Bio for Gary Heard
Gary Heard is a Baptist Minister and senior lecturer in Pastoral and Ministry Studies in the University of Divinity. He is married to Evelyn and has three adult children, and lives on the Surf Coast in Victoria, Australia.
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