To have a contemplative service like this for Lent is invaluable. I hope you enjoy this offering from St Andrews Episcopal church in Seattle as much as I do. The stained glass above is one of a series of stained glass windows at St Andrews for the Stations of the Cross. You can see the entire series in this Stations of the Cross Reflection
A contemplative service with music in the style-of-Taize for the First Sunday in Lent. 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:
“L’ajuda Em Vindra (I Lift up my Eyes to the Hills)” and “In God Alone my Soul (Mon Ame se Repose)” are songs from the Taize Community. Copyright and all rights reserved by GIA/Les Presses de Taizé.
“Be Thou My Vision” is a traditional Irish hymn, public domain, with arrangement by Andrew Myers and Kester Limner, shared under the Creative Commons License 0.
“Lay Me Low” is a musical setting of a Shaker text is by organist and composer Daniel Schwandt, Music That Makes Community, 2013. Used with permission (musicthatmakescommunity.org).
Thank you for praying with us! www.saintandrewsseattle.org
This year the United Nation’s World Day of Social Justice’s theme is “A Call for Social Justice in the Digital Economy”. Their focus is largely to achieve progress and social justice in the context of globalization in industry and commerce. In their statement on the theme, “The General Assembly recognizes that social development and social justice are indispensable for the achievement and maintenance of peace and security within and among nations and that, in turn, social development and social justice cannot be attained in the absence of peace and security or in the absence of respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
How can any of this happen if the concept of social justice does not first imbed itself in individuals’ hearts, minds, and consciousness? That social justice is a new concept, comes from the prominence of the term in the news and on social media. However, the concept can be found in the theology of Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Paine’s philosophies. The term was first used explicitly in the 1780’s. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action in 1993 felt that social justice is a purpose of human rights education.
What does all this mean in the life of those who follow Christ? How would Christ look at our use of digital platforms? What rules might apply?
Recently, we have seen the digital world having a huge impact. And by those who proclaim Christ. Seeds of disunity have been sown, within governments and families, as well as between individuals. Micah 6:8 states, “He has told you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Nowhere, in the Word left us by God, does our all-seeing Father say, ‘except, of course, when the digital world arrives all previous teachings will become null and void.’ And yet, we see every day those proclaiming a Christian walk, leaving the love walk behind when it comes to the words left to their fellow man.
Does anyone truly believe, when our fingers become our tongues in the digital world, Divine guidelines change? Does it not grieve the Holy Spirit, as it tells us in Ephesians 4, when instead of beautiful words of encouragement and grace to help others, we turn to bitter words, temper tantrums, revenge, profanity and insults flowing onto our screens? Are our tongues still not “a small part of the body”, that carries great power? James’ warning to think of how small a flame can set a huge forest ablaze seems to still carry weight in the light of recent events.
We are still called to love and uplift our fellow man. We are still called to obey the laws of governments. We are still called to be sowers of peace and unity in a world that has always sowed division. Yes, we are allowed our opinions and differences, but how we express them matters.
It seems to me that both the news, often condensed to misleading headlines on social platforms, and all the digital platforms, used by individuals to convey their own thoughts and reactions, are now strewn with judgements on others extending even to who is and is not a Christian, based on political leanings. Can this ever be okay for those called to love even our enemies? “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven…” (Luke 6:37 ESV) still seems very real to me.
“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” (Eph 2:14)
Paul was talking of a racial ethnic divide being healed between Jews and non-Jews. At the time, he wrote of ethnic hatred being dissolved and that peace had to come by starting over—forming one new race of humanity. And yet, within the ether of social media exist groups whose sole purpose is to destroy one another. There are those, who seek to groom others to accepting their beliefs through appealing to their honest emotions with misleading information. We see Christians rationalizing their interest in such groups.
All lives do matter and yet the Bible tells us that there always have been those who are judged as less than, who need our steadfast support and whom we are called to love. Inequity exists and yet we are called to do our part to diminish inequality.
I believe the Bible still calls us to a more excellent standard, based on scripture, whether through our living in the world, in print or on social media. Social Justice, after all, is a call for scriptural justice. Isaiah 10 (ESV) declares, “Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey.”
The Bible remains our manual for how we live our lives justly and we do not get to rewrite it. Scripture remains the original call for social justice. In this world of self-promotion, we are called to promote unity through following the Word of God. In our lives, which include our digital lives, we are still called to behave as if for an audience (and ‘Like’) of One.
Philippians 2:3 tells us, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”
Our newest course, Time to Heal Online Course, is available now for purchase! This course provides 5 sessions with Christine Sine, Lilly Lewin, and Bethany Dearborn Hiser each with different approaches and practices to assist in processing grief and healing.
guest post by Ron Friesen,
It is 1988, I am leading an adult Bible study in north Phoenix in a church I helped plant a few years earlier. As I am leading the study on the man born blind (John 9), I am realizing how privileged I am to be in this group. Some are very successful businesspeople, some are in professions like nursing and teaching, and still others are new single parents and several struggle with mental health issues. I divide the group into small groups. I invite them to put themselves into the characters in the story. Some are the blind man, some are parents of the blind man, some are the Pharisees and scribes and some are Jesus. After some struggle, each group enters into the character of their assigned personages. A lively debate ensues.
Bringing the Gospel narrative into the context of my class in 1988, I flip the script and say, “The man is not born blind, however, he has just told you he contracted AIDS. How would you react based on your roles you were just in?” Most group members realized that their roles reflected the varied societal responses to recently disclosed AIDS crisis.
Some wanted to question what sin he had committed? Some wanted to blame the man’s parents for failing to be good parents. Some wanted to pull out the rule book on sexual behavior. Some expressed compassion and wanted to see him healed.
Today on May 25, the issue is not AIDS but social injustice. On this date, one year ago, George Floyd suffocated on a street in Minneapolis while a policeman placed his knee on his neck.
Who are we in the narrative?
Are we the policeman who had his knee on George’s neck?
Are we the fellow policemen who are observing and trying to shield your fellow kneeling officer from the prying eyes of the public?
Are we the person with the telephone video camera taping the scene?
Are we one of the by-standers who is shouting at the policemen?
Are we a passer-by who notices the scene and who keeps walking by?
Perhaps at the date of George Floyd’s death, we were in the role we have been set in by our life experience. A year has passed, in what role are we today? Or are we still in a period of transformation?
It was my privilege to wash the feet of one of the homeless men. “Arnold” told me how he and his wife have been homeless a number of times in the past five years. Various circumstances such as lost jobs and lost housing have caused their homelessness. He was grateful for the attention I paid to him and the service offered.
There is something profoundly intimate in washing the feet of another person. The feet are the place where all nerves come to an ending. This is why the ancient practice of reflexology works miracles for many people.
As I was holding Arnold’s feet, I was wondering where his feet had been in his fifty-plus years. What did they play when they were in school playgrounds? What halls of achievement had they strolled through? Where had these feet moved to seeking relief from suffering and pain? As I gently washed, dried and applied lotion on Arnold’s feet, I prayed for his feet. I prayed they would walk in paths of peace, in ways of love and joy, and in streets of service to his family and his community.
As Arnold was grateful for my service; I am even more grateful for the opportunity to minister in the ways of Jesus, who washes our feet every day.
Bio for Ron Friesen
Ron Friesen, a native of British Columbia, Canada, has resided in Phoenix, Arizona since 1981. As an ordained minister with Mennonite Church, USA, Ron has served as a pastor, hospital chaplain, hospice chaplain and a chaplain with people experiencing homelessness. The last twenty-two years, Ron has been a bi-vocational minister while he worked as a professional mental health counselor in a community health center, a psychiatric hospital and a prison. Ron continues to be an adjunct professor at Grand Canyon University. Ron recently became a Certified Spiritual Director through the Christian Formation and Direction Ministry – Arizona.
Ron is married to June Friesen, a frequent contributor to Godspace. They are the parents of two adult sons and the proud grandparents of two girls who live with their parents in northern Virginia. Ron recently took up photography and hiking as a hobby. Ron’s life purpose is “Love God, love those who love God, and love those who don’t know God loves them.”
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I’ve been considering what my Lenten focus, Lenten practice, is going to be for this year… and I’m still pondering.
Many of us feel like the entire past year has been a season of Lent… since we’ve given up time with friends and family and all the normal rhythms of life, thanks to the pandemic. We really don’t want the wilderness of Lent, we are truly ready for the joy and celebration of Resurrection and Easter.
Maybe you are just plain exhausted… and the thought of a Lenten Practice is just one more thing on a list that is already too long.
I said last week that maybe you just need to have REST be your practice this Lent.
I truly believe that our culture would be more kind and compassionate if we had more rest and more space for things that restore our souls.
What would it take for you to make REST your Lenten practice this year? Could you do this with your partner or your family? Or with your flatmates/roommates? Could you take an afternoon each week to just BE… or to take a nap or read books, or do a puzzle, leaving technology and screens behind so your mind gets a break? Could you plan a time to just rest with Jesus, allowing Jesus to hold all the stuff you are busy carrying around? How would you feel by Easter if REST were your weekly practice?
Permission to REST for Lent
WRITE YOURSELF A PERMISSION SLIP to allow yourself to REST!
With so many people suffering due to the cold weather and due to the pandemic, fasting something for Lent feels a bit forced or useless. I’ve never been a good faster of food anyway, but I am considering what I might fast in order to draw closer to Jesus between now and Easter. I found this great poem/prayer that is helping me process fasting this Lenten Season.
The Fast Life
Fast from judging others;
Feast on Christ dwelling in them. Fast from fear of illness;
Feast on the healing power of God. Fast from words that pollute;
Feast on speech that purifies.
Fast from discontent;
Feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger;
Feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism;
Feast on hope.
Fast from negatives;
Feast on encouragement.
Fast from bitterness;
Feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern;
Feast on compassion.
Fast from suspicion;
Feast on truth.
Fast from gossip;
Feast on purposeful silence.
Fast from problems that overwhelm; Feast on prayer that sustains.
Fast from anxiety;
Feast on faith.
-Author Unknown
Any of these resonate with you?
Remember that Sundays are Feast days during Lent, so if you do decide to fast something, you don’t have to fast it on Sundays! My friend Professor Maggie Dawn, a theologian in the UK, feels like the entire last year has been a Lenten fast, so she is opting to focus on a saint everyday. She is posting her saint of the day on twitter and you can follow along!
How would you feel by Easter, if you chose to do something that filled your cup and drew you closer to Jesus?
Create something !
Maybe art, or music, or even baking? Or walking in nature? All done with the intention of allowing these things to draw you closer to Jesus.
I realized that I needed more music in my life. We don’t have singing as a part of our thinplaceNASHVILLE practice (it’s hard to sing on Zoom anyway) and I love to sing! I discovered a new to me group called THE PORTER’S GATE and I’m listening to their music each day.
Could you find some new music, or find some old music you love that you haven’t listened to or sung in a long time and make this a part of your day?
We celebrated Shrove Tuesday this week with a virtual pancake gathering and this made me think of something I’d like to practice during this Lenten Season. I’ve wanted to bake cookies for my neighbors all through this crazy year, but haven’t taken the time to do it. I think that this baking never happened because I wanted to make cookies for everyone at once and didn’t see that I could do a few neighbors at a time! Too much perfectionism rather than fun! Baking for me is good therapy. It slows me down and brings me peace. What if baking is my Lenten Practice this year? What if I choose to bake a batch of cookies each week and deliver them to my neighbors? I don’t have to do it all at once! It doesn’t have to be perfect. It can be a prayer practice, praying for my neighbors as I bake, and then giving away the cookies to them. You could even do this as a family practice.
Even if you don’t like baking or don’t want this to be a part of your Lenten experience this year, PUT OUT A LARGE SPOON OR A SPATULA where you will see it everyday and consider what Jesus wants to mix into your life this Lent. What has God been mixing in you lately? What needs more stirring? What is Jesus stirring in you? What recipe is God making through you?
What is Jesus Stirring in you?
Let’s take time to actually consider how we can draw closer to Jesus/God between now and Easter. Even in the midst of a frozen February here in the States, and in Lock Down, and in the land of Covid, we can experience more of Jesus’s peace and presence. Jesus longs for us to just be with him and know that we are his beloved. He is holding us in the palm of his hand.
And if you want to experience a bit of rest, healing and art, this Lent, check out our Healing Workshop or sign up for our Lenten Retreat happening on March 6, 2021.
by Sue Duby,
by Sue Duby
Three-year old grandson Nate LOVES trucks. Any kind. Any size. The bigger the better. But amidst all the wheeled vehicles racing down the hallway, dump trucks top the list. Nate’s tiny fingers wiggle to grasp any small objects to stuff into the truck’s bin, then wheel the whole load across the room. At times, success! At times, screams and tears when the load tips over.
Load lifting is a lot like that. Skill required. A “loader” in good shape for the journey. Knowing it won’t always work out as anticipated. Willingness to try again when it all fails. Shuffling objects from one location to another. Lifting weights that are just too much for one person to handle alone. Even moving items to truly “dump” them.
As Chuck and I have enjoyed the luxury of time to reflect over the past few months, we’ve discovered a past life theme that’s birthed new dreams. Load lifting.
I’ve never bench pressed anything in the gym. Neither of us love exercising with heavy dumbbells. Though we’re not fashioned of metal, with crazy tread tires, screws and bolts like Nate’s prize dump truck, we’re recognizing more and more how He fashioned and wired us both. Not sure why it’s taken part of a lifetime to grab hold of understanding, but grateful it’s getting clearer. We love to lift loads!
Way back during our missions training school in snowy Montana, one leader unexpectedly thanked us for being “Aaron and Hur”. At first, that sounded crazy and confusing. Puzzled, we dug a bit deeper and discovered it’s actually very simple… just lift a hand!
In Exodus 17:8-13, Moses charges Joshua to go out to fight the Amalekites, promising to stand on the hill with God’s staff in hand. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites continued to win. When he grew weary, “…Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.” (v. 12 NIV)
By John Everett Millais – Originally uploaded by Paul Barlow, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18811161
A battle raged. Lives were on the line. Moses was not tasked with joining the physical battle or shouting orders for hours. He had one seemingly unrelated job… to hold his hands high. Even with that small task, it became too burdensome. If you’ve ever tried to raise your arms for a long period of time, it’s hard! Aaron and Hur likewise were not required to rush into battle. Again, for them, one simple duty. Hold Moses’ hands high. Not even two … just a single hand each. Just enough to keep Moses’ stance steady. And victory followed.
Though I’ll likely never be on a battlefield, watching spears fly and armor clashing, I know daily there are people in my life who are weary. I also realize (after too many years to count of trying) that it’s not my job to “fix” anything for others, but rather to come alongside and “load lift” in ways God inspires. Maybe a quick text, “Thinking of you”. Perhaps a phone call to just listen. A note in the mail. A cup of coffee on the back porch. A warm loaf of sourdough bread (a newly discovered passion!). Simple acknowledgement that their struggle is real.
May be bold to step out to hold a hand up… to ask Him to show us our assignment (who, when, where, how)… and not measure how big or small it may seem. Sometimes, it’s simply asking a few questions along the way each day…
- Who is weighed down in my sphere? (Physically, emotionally or spiritually)
- Am I to help load lift? (never assuming I’m to jump in, but always asking Him)
- What role do you have for me, no matter how simple? (…and let me not quickly discount those!)
- For me alone or as a team? (sometimes it takes two!)
- When am I to step aside and know my job is done? (that’s as important as jumping in)
As we journey in to 2021, may He open our eyes to those around us who need load lifting. And may we enjoy the journey as He leads the way.
by Sue Duby
And sometimes even the best load lifters need a break!
Feature Photo by Aamir Suhail on unsplash.com
Our newest course, Time to Heal Online Course, is available now for purchase! This course provides 5 sessions with Christine Sine, Lilly Lewin, and Bethany Dearborn Hiser each with different approaches and practices to assist in processing grief and healing.
by Tom Sine
Christine & I are looking forward to our 1st Vaccine, however, our pup Goldie has decided to avoid all needles.
What we miss most in 2021 is celebrating with friends in these troubled 2020s.
What we pray for most is that followers of Jesus of all gens will join members of Gen Y and Z by creating new forms of neighborhood empowerment, racial justice & climate change and the just distribution of vaccine for all our neighbors on our struggling planet.
I am particularly grateful for an article in the PRESBYTERIAN OUTLOOK by Eric Peltz, an innovative young pastor, with kind words for 2020s Foresight… and for my good friend, Dwight Friesen, who took the time to join me in writing this, my final book.
Thank you for checking out Godspace and discovering why you and so many people appreciate Christine, who is a gift to so many friends all over our struggling world… particularly the 6 people who share life with us in the Mustard Seed House. We will save a piece of moist chocolate cake for you… We would value your prayers.
Tom Sine
Our newest course, Time to Heal Online Course, is available now for purchase! This course provides 5 sessions with Christine Sine, Lilly Lewin, and Bethany Dearborn Hiser each with different approaches and practices to assist in processing grief and healing.
by Carol Dixon,
Create in me a clean heart, God – a hymn for Ash Wednesday
Tune: Tallis’ Canon
Create in me a clean heart, God,
a heart that focuses on you,
that emulates your living Word
in everything I say and do;
A humble mindset centred on
your will for me in all my days,
a renewed spirit helping me
to live a life of constant praise.
Help me to work for justice, peace,
sharing the gifts you give with all,
to love with joy abundantly
and faithfully follow your call.
(Carol Dixon © United Reformed Church Handbook 2021, used with permission).
(736) Glory to Thee My God This Night, Tallis’s Canon (Instrumental Version) – YouTube
Picking stones
I pick up a stone
thinking it is bread
and then my sand-filled eyes
see that it is just a stone.
I’m disappointed, God,
I feel betrayed,
as if it is your fault, not mine.
Challenging God,
It’s the same
with our sins and sorrows:
we pick up a stone of disobedience
expecting it to give us what we desire most;
a stone of heart-ache
hoping it will bring happiness
instead of offering them to you
to be transformed by your redeeming love.
We pick up the stones
of the hurts of the world:
violence and poverty,
disaster and starvation,
wanting you to turn them into bread:
to solve every painful situation:
every sorrow:
the accidental,
those of our own making,
those caused by greed.
Loving Jesus,
your broken body became
fresh bread for us all;
feed us with your love, we pray,
so that we may nurture our famished world.
(Carol Dixon (© United Reformed Church Prayer Handbook 2017, used with permission)
The idea of the above prayer came to me after my son, a farm worker, came home after spending the afternoon removing unwanted stones from a field before ploughing and remarked that one of the stones he’d picked up looked like the bread bun he had for lunch. I also came across an article on the web which made an interesting analogy about picking stones (see below)
Picking stones
“Being raised on a farm has a few duties that no one is eager to do. One of them is picking stones. In the spring, when the dirt is turned over before planting, it seems that the first thing that sprouts is a new crop of stones. You cleared the fields the year before, but each year they return.
It’s important to get them out of the way. Young sprouts aren’t strong enough to move the heavy stones. It stunts their growth and sometimes kills them. So you bend over time after time, each stone getting heavier as you calculate the tonnage you must be moving and grumble about it under your breath.
One of the things I do is teach basic internet skills to seniors. The courage, commitment and perseverance of this group never stops impressing me. In the face of trifocals, small print, arthritic hands and lack of computer experience, they come in week after week, sometimes repeating the four week class three or four times, gaining a little more each time and somehow being encouraged by these small steps in what proves to be a stony field for them.” The full article can be found here.
Ash Wednesday Prayer – Encountering God in a secret place – our own ‘Poustinia’*
[Isaiah 58 1-12; Matt 6 1-6, 16-21]
LENT can be a season of refreshment and renewal – a healthy balance of work, rest, prayer as we give up time in busy lives to sort out our relationship with God, rediscovering God’s perspective on life and actively work at ways of turning world values around in sacrificial giving – of our time, our talents, our possessions and our service.
Sung Response: Lord have mercy upon us, Christ have mercy upon us
Lord have mercy upon us, grant us peace.
Longsuffering Lord,
We pay you lip service, not life service,
dabbling with our designer diets,
fussing over famine lunches,
we cut out the extras and give up
our daily ration of ‘goodies’ –
play acting at poverty.
In this sacrificial season
change us in mind and heart,
so that the discomfort of Jesus’ love
penetrates our comfortable lives
and instead of hoarding our riches
in straw-filled barns, grudgingly
sharing our surplus with those in need,
we learn the true meaning of living for others
as we journey with Jesus to the Cross.
Sung response: Lord have mercy upon us, Christ have mercy upon us
Lord have mercy upon us, grant us peace.
Words of Assurance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”
To all those who turn to him, Jesus says:
“Your sins are forgiven”.
He also says: “Follow me”
Carol Dixon
*Poustinia
Lent is generally recognised as a season of spiritual renewal, when we look once again at our relationship with God and try to discover a healthy balance of work, rest and prayer. In so doing, we can rediscover God’s perspective on life, and find ways of forsaking worldly values, in order to live more sacrificially. In engaging on this spiritual quest, we could create our own ‘poustinia’. The word is Russian and it means ‘desert’. However it doesn’t mean a sandy waste. In Russian, it has the connotation of the 4th century Egyptian desert fathers who went our into the wilderness focus totally on God – much as some of the early Celtic monks did on bleak islands around Britain. To a Russian, a poustinia was a lonely place where salience 7 solitude could be found, where ‘heaven meets earth’. However it was not necessarily situated away from the village. Some people remained in their own homes and would go to a particular spot each day in order to pray and meditate and enter into a time of inner pilgrimage. It is a place of utter simplicity, free of distractions. The Russian poustinik would have no books or pictures, except possibly and icon and only the Bible to read. They would read it on their knees, unmindful of any academic questions of interpretation for tot them the Bible was the incarnation of the Word. In creating our poustinia, three things should be borne in mind: we must recognise that this is God’s place, a hallowed place, where we retreat specifically to seek God.
Information supplied by the Northumbria Community from Poustinia by Catherine de Hueck Doherty’, used with permission of Fr Robert Wild, Madonna House, Combermere, Ontario. (© United Reformed Church Prayer Handbook 2003, used with permission.)
Desert-ed by God
[Isaiah 55 1-9; Psalm 63 1-8; I Cor 10 1-13]
The desert is hot and arid,
it saps my strength,
my eyes burn for a glimpse of God;
Parched I pant for pools of living water;
I long to lounge again by the life-giving streams,
and let God’s provident love flood my life.
Bountiful God,
renewer of our strength in times of testing,
you provide bread for our journey,
and springs of water in the hard places
if only we know where to look;
Forgive our flagging faith,
turn our fasting to feasting,
remove our stone-filled sandals
and humbly wash our feet,
until restored, renewed and re-invigorated
we walk with those who stumble on stony paths,
and plant seeds of joyful hope
in the desert places of our world.
Pray for countries hit by frequent droughts, for those trying to scratch a living from desert land; Pray for people forced to travel miles to seek water and those whose water supplies are polluted and unsafe.
(Carol Dixon ©United Reformed Church Prayer Handbook 2003, used with permission)
The above post was used with permission by © 2021, URC Prayer Handbook; Conversations, The United Reformed Church.
Photo above by Ahna Ziegler on unsplash.com
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