My friend Thom Jensen posted this on Facebook
“Four years ago today.
Saturday 3/14.
All Apple stores in the world to shut down for 2 weeks. (So they thought)
I never went back to work. ”
All the Apple Stores ended up being shut for 9 months because of covid 19
Do you remember what you were doing this week in March 2020?
Do you remember how much we didn’t know?
How uncertain everything felt?
I took some time this week to look back through my photos to see what I was doing and what I was feeling as the pandemic started. My husband and I had been sick most of February with some crud that may or may not have been covid because there weren’t any tests yet.
I remember that on Thursday, March 12th that the National Basketball Association cancelled their season. Since this is professional basketball, people in the USA really took notice and realized the global pandemic that the World Health Organization had declared on March 11 was actually real.
I was reading the CDC time line of the pandemic and remembering how much we didn’t know back then. I remember hearing about all the deaths in Italy and listening to the Italians sing to one another from their balconies.
Italy suffered extensively and the world watched.
In Nashville, we had just experienced a major tornado ripping through the city. Clean up began in the middle of things shutting down. I remember that there was conflict between the Nashville mayor and some of the business owners Downtown in the honkey tonk district of Broadway because they didn’t want to shut down and lose money on St. Patrick’s Day. And the conflict started about wearing masks.
How did you experience the first weeks of the pandemic? What do you remember? What stands out?
This week I am noticing how I’m feeling four years on and noticing all the pain of the last few years.
You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your record?
Psalm 56:8 NRSV
God holds our tears in the wilderness of Grief and Sorrow. READ THE WHOLE CHAPTER
This week, March 13th, marks the fourth anniversary of Brianna Taylor’s death. She was an emergency medical technician who was home with her boyfriend when the Louisville police broke down the door and shot into the apartment and killed her. She had done nothing wrong. The police didn’t take the time to ask questions. They shot first. She was only 26 years old..She would be 30 this year. She was black. I have a son who will be 32 this year. Due to his color , he never has to worry about the police.
Brianna was the first of many painful, senseless killings of black people by police in 2020 and because of the lockdown we had time to pay attention to a pandemic of death that had been going on for years and sadly still continues.
The anniversary of her death hit me hard. I think because so little has changed. There is still so much violence against people of color in our country and our world.
EMT’s took my dad by ambulance to the ER hospital on Saturday after an episode that my mom thought was a stroke or a heart attack. Thankfully it was just a blackout from his blood pressure dropping but as many of you know, hospital stays are stress full and not restful. So everyone in the family s exhausted from this event and wondering when it will happen again.
Layers of grief
Layers of fatigue that we carry around with us …sometimes we notice. sometimes we feel sad or depressed and we don’t understand why… I think it’s because we have all suffered loss and been impacted by the global pain.
Then add on the wars in our world, and the conflict in politics and an election year her in the states and it truly can be overwhelming.
GOD HOLDS OUR TEARS!
On March 27th we will remember the first year anniversary of the Covenant School shooting that happened near my neighborhood .Three fourth graders and three staff members died when a former student with a military style rife opened fire in the school.
And here in Tennessee, the state legislature wants to make it illegal to buy cold beer to prevent drunk driving deaths but refuses to put any limitations on gun sales. We are a permit less, open carry state where anyone can purchase a gun without any training and very limited background checks.
This all makes me so crazy! Especially when I know that other countries don’t deal with gun deaths every single day!
GOD HOLDS OUR TEARS!
I think our whole world is exhausted and in grief. I our bodies feel it even if we aren’t choosing to pay attention. We really do need rest and restoration and time to grieve.
You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your record?
Psalm 56:8 NRSV
What are you grieving today?
What do you notice as you recall the events of the lockdown and the last four years of your life?
How have things changed for you?
How are things the same?
Did you lose anyone to the disease or because of the pandemic? What were the losses you experienced? Have you taken time to grieve these?
Pray for people you know who lost someone.
What has changed for the better? What have been the gifts since Covid lockdown?
Take time to reflect with Jesus on what you’ve learned and how you’ve changed. And take time to be thankful.
What are you grieving about our world right now? What is breaking your heart and causing you pain?
Let Jesus hold these tears for you! GOD HOLDS OUR TEARS!
god holds our tears
Practice:
Take out a Cup and a pitcher… Fill the pitcher with water..…imagine the water is the tears you’ve been crying…for your country, your city/town, your family, our world, your self, the losses, the waste, all the things you cannot fix or control. All the things our are grieving.
Pour out some water into the cup! Now give that cup to Jesus to hold. Let Jesus hold your tears. Keep a pitcher and cup somewhere in your house to remind you that God is holding your tears.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4
I am grateful that GOD knows our sorrow and understands our pain. I am grateful that Jesus understood loss and wept for his friend, and got angry at injustice! at the end of Psalm 56 we are reminded…
God, you did everything you promised,
and I’m thanking you with all my heart.
You pulled me from the brink of death,
my feet from the cliff-edge of doom.
Now I stroll at leisure with God
in the sunlit fields of life. AMEN
Take time this weekend to stroll outside. Stroll with God…let God comfort you in your pain and refresh you with the beauty of nature. Remember that you are greatly loved and you are not alone. And in honor of St. Patrick’s Day on Sunday, an Irish Blessing Song. If you remember, there were many blessing songs that came out during the Pandemic. One of the gifts of technology that kept us together!
You can download a free resource to help you pray through Holy Week, Using your Coffee or Tea Cup.
@lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
by Carol Dixon
On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on that very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. 2 After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.
A desert prayer: Desert-ed by God
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 plant seeds of joyful hope
….in the desert places of our world. © Carol Dixon
I’ve never been in an actual desert. I should imagine it can be quite a scary place. I’ve never been a refugee either, fleeing from an oppressive regime. So it’s hard for me to imagine just how desperate the fugitives who followed Moses from Egypt felt. Often when we hear the story we blame the refugees themselves for moaning about the situation they found themselves in – they’d just been spectacularly rescued from a life of slavery so why complain – but in many ways it must have seemed to them like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.
So why did God allow his chosen people to wander in the wilderness for a whole generation? Canon Trevor Dennis in his ‘Book of Books – The Bible for young people’ suggests that one reason was so they would learn to grow up into the people they were meant to be – far away from the temptations of heathen gods and the flesh pots of the decedent cities round about. It was also so that they would learn to rely totally on God who fed them physically and spiritually.
Sometimes in our lives we can feel as if we have been des-ert-ed (deserted) by God. Joyce Huggett in her book ‘Formed by Desert’ says: Sometimes in our lives we can feel as if we have been des-ert-ed (deserted) by God. Our ‘desert’ might be a situation of hopelessness and helplessness, any situation where we watch the resources we normally rely on dwindle and dry up – any situation where we feel we have lost our way. Our own personal wilderness might be the emptiness of loss that comes through bereavement or redundancy, depression or burn-out, illness or loneliness, post-accident trauma or marriage breakdown; failure of any kind. Alternatively our desert might be the desert of discouragement or confusion, inability to pray, weariness or disappointment, or an awareness of our innate selfishness and addiction to consumerism, to name a couple of 21st century deserts.’
In these kind of situations we can learn a lot from the story of Moses to help us to understand and get through our desert times in life. His story reminds us that when prayer seems dry, difficult or dull, we still need to come to God – even if it’s just to complain! Moses also teaches us the value of waiting. Praying in times of spiritual aridity may seem as if nothing is happening but as we offer God all that we are we discover that the waiting time allows our soul to grow up’ and we learn to become the person God intends us to be.
The story of Moses and the Israelites also teaches us to hope in the sense that it encourages us to depend on God’s promises and power. He challenges us to watch to see the way in which God’s creative love will express itself at every twist and turn in the road and we learn to look around every corner expecting the new mercies God constantly showers on us day by day even in difficult times.
Sometimes in our desert God provides us with the support of a companion, a spiritual desert-dweller who has learned the art of thriving in the inner desert; someone who can point out hidden dangers, as well as waterholes and sustenance for our journey – I’ve been very blest over the years to have found such companions who have helped me on my journey of faith. The final lesson Moses had to learn over the years was that of letting go. When something or someone is precious to us, the temptation is to cling, and when we cling we are unable to stretch out open hands to receive the new thing or insight God yearns to give us. Moses (and the people he led) learned, albeit with a struggle to pray the prayer of relinquishment regularly. As God himself reminds us (in the words of the prophet Isaiah): Stop dwelling on past events and brooding over days gone by. I am about to do something new; this moment it will unfold. Can you not perceive it? Even through the wilderness I shall make a way, and paths in the barren desert… for I shall provide food in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Is 43 v11-21)
We have a Saviour who has walked the desert way before us and who is with us in all our challenging circumstances as well as in our joys. One of my favourite songs is ‘Be not afraid’ (You shall cross the barren desert). The words are so affirmative and comforting. I particularly love the version by Marilla Ness:
https://youtu.be/tqo11i6opyE?feature=shared
Be Not Afraid
You shall cross the barren desert
But you shall not die of thirst
You shall wander far in safety
Though you do not know the way
You shall speak your words in foreign lands
And all will understand
You shall see the face of God and live
Chorus: Be not afraid, I go before you always
Come follow Me and I will give you rest
If you pass through raging waters in the sea
You shall not drown
If you walk amid the burning flames
You shall not be harmed
If you stand before the power of hell
And death is at your side
Know that I am with you through it al Chorus:
Blessed are your poor
For the kingdom shall be theirs
Blessed are you that weep and mourn
For one day you shall laugh
And if wicked tongues insult and hate you
All because of Me
Blessed, blessed are you! © Bob Duffy
Photo by Emma Van Sant Unsplash
Catch the second episode of Liturgical Rebels!
by Karen Wilk
The other day, I was shovelling snow and was startled by the unexpected movement of a white-
tailed jackrabbit on the lawn. It had clearly been there (watching me) since I had ventured
outside but I was totally unaware of its presence. Perhaps you also have had the experience of
suddenly realizing that ‘something was there all along.’ What if, amid the crises and chaos of
today’s world something – the presence and activity of God –has been there all along? What if
our attention, like mine on clearing our walkways, is so focused on our activities, that we don’t
notice, what is there all along? How might we ‘wake-up’ (again for the first time) to God in our
midst—right next door, in our lives, communities and world?
I wonder if at least in part, that is what the Lenten journey is all about. It’s an opportunity to turn
our attention intentionally and steadily to what God is up to in the subversive, small and seed-
like ways of His Kingdom. As in days of old when Lent was primarily focused on preparation for
Baptism, how might we wake up again or for the first time to participate in what is going on all
along–God’s work; preparing us to be transformed anew through the power of the Resurrection
and the revelation that, in Christ, God’s Kingdom has come near.
‘God’s Kingdom has come near’ was the good news that Jesus embodied, taught in word and
deed, and died to secure for all time and all people. Yet it turns out, God’s Kingdom was, and is,
quite different from how we have often framed, boxed and packaged it and quite contrary to our
‘kingdoms’ –both then and now. God’s Kingdom, for example, is not about the love of law but
about the law of love. Waking up to this contrary, counter-intuitive Kingdom come near is not
only an invitation, but I believe, our calling and ‘mission.’ Those who seek to follow Jesus, begin
and continue the journey by recognizing God at work out ahead of us, here and now, doing a
new thing on the way to the redemption of all things—and as we do, we join in!
The Suffering Love of Lent
Love Eternal, Love Divine,
Love pursuing a heart like mine
The Christ
Grace though disgraced
Robbed yet rich in acceptance
Extending Generosity before repentance
Securing Relationship not the law
Compassion never to withdraw.
Undeserved. Unearned. Undeniable.
Relentless. Agonizing.
Reliable
Love Eternal, Love Divine,
Love pursuing a heart like mine.
On May 11 from 10 am to 12 pm PT (check my timezone) We will discuss connections between community, spirituality and gardening. Explore the wonderful ways that God and God’s story are revealed through the rhythms of planting, growing and harvesting as well as the beauty of nature. This webinar is for anyone who admires the beauty of God’s good creation, likes to walk in nature, sit by the ocean or just relax and listen to the birds in the trees. It is based on Christine Sine’s popular book, To Garden with Godand each participant will receive a digital copy of this book.
In this third episode of The Liturgical Rebels Christine Sine interviews Scott Erickson, a creative artist and storyteller, who shares his journey as an artist and how he uses his God-given creativity to bring the biblical story to life in fresh and new ways. They discuss his early artistic influences, his experience using art in church services, and his approach to developing a visual vocabulary. Scott and Christine also explore his decision to move away from traditional Christian symbols and his focus on creating artwork that invites viewers to unknow the familiar story. Scott emphasizes the importance of experiencing awe and wonder and the role of art in connecting with the giver of our souls.
Throughout the conversation, Scott reflects on the responses he receives to his artwork and the impact of art on the margins of society. In this conversation, Christine Sine and Scott also discuss the importance of mindfulness in daily life. They explore how mindfulness can improve emotional well-being, physical health, relationships, and productivity. The conversation emphasizes the benefits of being present in the moment and cultivating a mindful mindset.
Takeaways
- Art can be a powerful tool for bringing the biblical story to life in fresh and new ways.
- Developing a visual vocabulary and exploring symbols beyond traditional Christian imagery can help deepen our understanding of the story.
- Experiencing awe and wonder is essential for connecting with the deeper meaning of the story and the presence of God.
- Art created from the margins can have a profound impact on individuals and communities, offering a different perspective and inviting deeper reflection. Mindfulness is a powerful practice that can improve various aspects of life.
- Practicing mindfulness in daily life can lead to greater emotional well-being.
- Mindfulness can have positive effects on physical health, including reducing stress and improving sleep.
- Being mindful in relationships can enhance communication and connection.
- Incorporating mindfulness into work and daily tasks can increase productivity and focus.
Stay Connected
For more information about Scott Erickson his artwork and books, please visit him at scottericksonart.com, follow @scottthepainter on instagram or join him on substack https://scotterickson.
from Christine Sine
This week has been a mixture of delight and frustration. Delight because the daffodils in my back garden are now in full bloom and as I walk down the street on my awe and wonder walks, the beauty of flowering trees is a feast for my eyes.
Unfortunately, we continue to face challenges with the Godspacelight website. It is partly because of changes made necessary by new regulations regarding security, so that when we upgraded our theme recently, all kinds of links broke. Melissa spent hours last week fixing over 100 broken links, and that only scratches the surface. I must confess, it makes me feel as though I have wandered into a different kind of wilderness this Lent. As well as that, because we have posted almost daily since 2008, godspacelight has become huge. So we are working on some changes that will reduce the size – like deleting some of the oldest posts (probably years 2008 – 2013) and moving the store to Etsy, without adding to my expenses. Thank you for bearing with us as we scramble to make the necessary changes and for patiently walking this journey with us. In the midst of these changes I am very grateful that I am not alone. Without help from my assistant Melissa, and our technical support person Julie Bonn Blank we would be permanently broken and closed down.
“I am not alone” is in many ways my theme for this week, reflected in my Meditation Monday: Community in the Wilderness, in which I reflect on Jesus’ companions in the desert – animals and angels, and the reassurance I receive from the suggestion that God never wants us to be alone and often surrounds us with unexpected companions.
Interestingly, as I interview creative artists, poets and worship curators for my podcast The Liturgical Rebels, many comment that they feel lonely and marginalized. They see the podcast as a way to connect lonely and marginalized people who feel isolated in their creativity and imaginative approaches to spiritual practices. Don’t forget you can access the podcast episodes through buzzsprout, as well as through your usual podcast server, so check out the first 2 episodes before our third episode, an interview with creative artist and storyteller Scott Erickson goes live tomorrow. I am still reflecting on Drew Jackson’s invitation into the mystery of it all and his challenge to see poetry is a doorway to that. I think that art, music, nature, and curated worship also provide doorways through which we can enter that mystery. Over the coming months we will explore different aspects of all of these.
In Freerange Friday: Let God Take You Into The Wilderness, Lilly Lewin furthers her reflections on the wilderness in which Jesus experienced his temptations. Her questions: How have you noticed the Wilderness this week? Has it been in a positive or a negative way? And How have you experienced God’s presence? Had me pondering my own wilderness experiences and how I feel God has met me in the midst of them. It is a fantastic read.
I loved Laurie Klein’s Book Day… With Jesus, which she wrote for World Book Day. She begins by talking about The Book of Kells, a beautiful illuminated gospel that now resides in Trinity College in Dublin. Her comment “A book makes time travellers of us,” as a prelude to imagining ourselves with Jesus as he writes in the dust is inspiring.
On Wednesday in God – You Have Got to Be Joking June Friesen introduced us to the foolishness of her current situation as she and her husband prepare to move yet again. She uses it to reflect on the Hebrews crossing the Jordan into the promised land, across a river in flood, another one of those foolish things God does. It makes me very grateful for GPS systems which tend to avoid flooded rivers.
On Tuesday I posted early for International Womens Day, which was on Friday. My title Standing With Mary Magdalene and All the Women of the World says it all. “Mary Magdalene is one of the most misused and abused women in the Bible, a fitting symbol for women throughout the ages who are still misused, abused and blamed.” You might also like to check out this Franciscan Prayer for International Womens Day, which I highlight on social media each year. I love to read through it each year, appropriate not just for International Women’s Day but also for Mothering Sunday, celebrated in the UK last Sunday.
Don’t forget it is also time to sign up for the upcoming Spirituality of Gardening seminar. This is not just for gardeners, but for everyone who loves to wander in God’s created world and notice the beauty and creativity of God it displays.
My prayer for this week is one I wrote last year, but am enjoying again as I wander my neighbourhood.
Grasp the beauty of today.
Slow down and linger,
As long as possible in its presence.
It will quickly fade away,
This never to be repeated,
Special moment of intimacy,
With our Creator.
Sit in the sacred circle of life,
With all the creatures of this earth.
Godʼs is the day,
Godʼs also the night.
Pause and savor the wonder of this space,
Between the ending,
And a new beginning.
(C) Christine Sine godspacelight.com
Many blessings on you this week. We appreciate your prayers.
Take some time to explore Godspace Light’s Lent and Easter resources. You can find liturgies, activities, prayers and past posts to enrich and enliven your Lent and Easter season.
by Christine Sine
Thank you for being a God who does not wish for us to be alone. We hold close that you are a God who didn’t just feed the five thousand but gave them people to eat with (Cole Arthur Riley Black Liturgies 69)
I love Cole Arthur Riley’s unfamiliar take on this gospel passage, which really caught my attention this week. “God who does not wish us to be alone” made me think about Jesus’s sojourn in the desert, one of those times in his life when he seemed so much alone, and yet he was not alone. God provided him with animals as companions and angels to serve him. (Mark 1:13) Yet we rarely mention them.
Interestingly when I looked at images of Jesus in the desert they rarely showed the wild animals, or the angels. It made me aware of how easily we dismiss the importance of non-human companionship. Animals matter in our lives, especially in times of testing. There is nothing quite like the joy of coming home to a pet waiting by the door to greet us. Interacting with animals has been shown to decrease stress and lower blood pressure. Other studies have found that animals can reduce loneliness, increase feelings of social support, and boost your mood. The pandemic, when so many acquired animals to help see them through their loneliness reinforced that.
What about the angels though? In her fascinating book Love of Thousands, Christine Valters Paintner guides us to see the ways all of us are supported by angels. She believes each of us has our own guardian angel who protects the human soul from inner and outer troubles, helps redirect the soul that has gone astray, and supports us in our prayer and connection to God. Evidently, by the time Jesus arrived in the world, angels had been an integral part of Jewish belief for a long time. They are often seen as a link between earth and heaven. The early church theologians too would counsel us to call on our guardian angel to help us through challenging moments and so it was not hard for the people of Jesus time to believe that the angels looked after him in the desert, just as they do for any of us walking through desert places.
Today, as I imagine Jesus sitting in the wilderness, struggling with Satanic attack, he is not alone. He is at the centre of a large community. He is surrounded by lions and deer and birds, and even jackals, drawn close to comfort and support him. I see him reach out to caress the soft fur of a lion cub that crawls up onto his lap. A lamb sits at his feet. Here in the desert, in the place of testing we catch a glimpse of God’s coming eternal kingdom where all creation is in accord once more, lying down together with the One who is the caretaker of the new creation. Hope and promise in the midst of community and in the place of testing. We have all experienced it. The angels are there too, strengthening Jesus’ resolve, nourishing him in body and spirit and protecting him from the Evil One.
One thing that Christine Valters Paintner encourages us to do is to connect to our guardian angels, to take time to sit and ask the Sacred Source of All to open our eyes to see our own guardian angels. It is a profound mystical experience. To sense that angelic presence that hovers over each of us at all times is quite amazing.
Next time you find yourself in a desert place, sit and visualize yourself with Jesus in the wilderness, surrounded by the comforting presence of animals and being upheld by the nourishing ministrations of angels. Reach out to your pet, if you have one. Allow the warmth of its presence to draw you into the love of God. Perhaps you would also like to sit quietly and ask your guardian angel to reveal itself. I know this is something many of us are not comfortable with, but for others it is like the greeting of an old friend. Sit with your eyes closed and imagine this protective presence surrounding you. Consider ways that you could continue to attune yourself to this presence as a protector, spirit strengthener and guide.
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If you’ve been following along with me this Lent, you know that I’m pondering the Wilderness….considering both the good things about the wilderness like the beauty of Nature and the opportunity to hear from God, and also the harshness of the wilderness and the need to be prepared. It was such a gift to get to be at Lake Michigan and walk through the forest and on the beach each day! The beauty of the Wilderness refilled my cup. It has been hard to walk the dog in my urban neighborhood with it’s trash and traffic noise. I’m being challenged and invited by Jesus to find him in the wilderness of the city too.
How have you noticed the Wilderness this week? Has it been in a positive or a negative way?
How have you experienced God’s presence? Take a few moments to thank God for this.
Dieric Bouts Prophet Elijah in the Desert
Today we are reading and considering Elijah the prophet. He experienced the wilderness, actually he escaped to the wilderness after defeating the prophets of Baal and angering Queen Jezebel
1 Kings 19:1-18 The Message You can read this passage in other versions here.
Ahab reported to Jezebel everything that Elijah had done, including the massacre of the prophets. Jezebel immediately sent a messenger to Elijah with her threat: “The gods will get you for this and I’ll get even with you! By this time tomorrow you’ll be as dead as any one of those prophets.”
3-5 When Elijah saw how things were, he ran for dear life to Beersheba, far in the south of Judah. He left his young servant there and then went on into the desert another day’s journey. He came to a lone broom bush and collapsed in its shade, wanting in the worst way to be done with it all—to just die: “Enough of this, God! Take my life—I’m ready to join my ancestors in the grave!” Exhausted, he fell asleep under the lone broom bush.
Suddenly an angel shook him awake and said, “Get up and eat!”
6 He looked around and, to his surprise, right by his head were a loaf of bread baked on some coals and a jug of water. He ate the meal and went back to sleep.
7 The angel of God came back, shook him awake again, and said, “Get up and eat some more—you’ve got a long journey ahead of you.”
8-9 He got up, ate and drank his fill, and set out. Nourished by that meal, he walked forty days and nights, all the way to the mountain of God, to Horeb. When he got there, he crawled into a cave and went to sleep.
Then the word of God came to him: “So Elijah, what are you doing here?”
10 “I’ve been working my heart out for the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,” said Elijah. “The people of Israel have abandoned your covenant, destroyed the places of worship, and murdered your prophets. I’m the only one left, and now they’re trying to kill me.”
11-12 Then he was told, “Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by.”
A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.
13-14 When Elijah heard the quiet voice, he muffled his face with his great cloak, went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there. A quiet voice asked, “So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here?” Elijah said it again, “I’ve been working my heart out for God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, because the people of Israel have abandoned your covenant, destroyed your places of worship, and murdered your prophets. I’m the only one left, and now they’re trying to kill me.”
15-18 God said, “Go back the way you came through the desert to Damascus. When you get there anoint Hazael; make him king over Aram. Then anoint Jehu son of Nimshi; make him king over Israel. Finally, anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Anyone who escapes death by Hazael will be killed by Jehu; and anyone who escapes death by Jehu will be killed by Elisha. Meanwhile, I’m preserving for myself seven thousand souls: the knees that haven’t bowed to the god Baal, the mouths that haven’t kissed his image.”
What is God speaking to you about TODAY as you read/listen to the passage?
What do you notice that you haven’t noticed before?
What questions do you have? What questions come up as you read the passage? Talk to Jesus about these things.
What are the invitations from Jesus to you?
“Everyone is nicer after a nap and a snack” Lilly Lewin
When you are in the wilderness places, feeling burned out and tired, you need to know that God is still with you. You need to know you are provided for too!
You need rest
You need nourishment
You need to know that you are not alone in your struggle.
What are you in need of right now? Talk to Jesus about this.
The Wilderness inside ourselves….do we know who we are and who we are called to be?
Talk to God about where you are.
Are you overtired?
Exhausted?
Burn out? Or too busy ? Are you feeling anxious or scared? Are you feeling depressed? How can you take time to REST this week? Allow God to restore you. REST
How can you create a BROOM TREE spot in your home or office as a place to rest?
Place a broom in the corner of your home, or somewhere where you will see it regularly as a reminder to take time to rest! And when you use your broom, ask Jesus to show you what you need right now.in your wilderness…rest, a snack, reminders that you aren’t alone….
It’s March 2024…and it’s the 4th anniversary of the Covid lockdown. It was on March 11th that the World Health Organization called Covid 19 a pandemic.
You may notice that you feel anxious, or tired or achy. Your body holds the memories of this tragic time and all the drama since. Allow Jesus to hold this for you. Give yourself permission to rest more or do more things that bring you joy this month. Pay attention to yourself.
“The story of Elijah’s angel in the desert comforts me when the journey seems too much. I know what it is to be exhausted and depressed; angels of God have sustained me. I too want bread of heaven to feed me for a long journey to the “mount of God” (1 Kings 19:8).
I admire Elijah’s courage at Mt Carmel, but am unsettled by his slaughter of adversaries. Elijah later appears with Moses on the mountain of Transfiguration, talking with Jesus (Matthew 17:1-8). What did Jesus, who rejected violence, say to the fiery prophet?”
Pastor Nelson Krayball
READ Pastor Nelson Krayball thoughts on Elijah and PTSD
Just like the Lenten season of 40 days, Elijah had to go on a 40 day journey. He was invited by God to learn how to listen and hear from God again. How are you needing to hear from God right now?
My friend and Spiritual Director Beth Slevcove says that Elijah’s journey in the wilderness is like a pilgrimage, or a labyrinth. He went through the wilderness and then met God in the cave( like the center of the labyrinth) and then Elijah had to walk back out into the wilderness the SAME WAY he had walked in! After hearing from God in the whisper and experiencing God’s power in the thunder and the earthquake, Elijah was refreshed and empowered to go back through the wilderness and back to his life and ministry! And he was reminded that there were 7000 people to help him keep fighting the good fight. HE WAS NOT ALONE!
As we enter the midpoint of the Lenten Season, you may be feeling more frustrated than free, more disconnected than connected to God, or perhaps you feel like your Lenten Journey is just getting started.
Where ever you are today, it is perfectly ok. You are greatly loved. You are held in the palm of God’s hand! Let God take care of you! Take time this week for nap and a snack and listen for the whisper of God. Let Jesus surprise you in your wilderness with the wildness of his Love!
Main photo Elijah in the Desert 1543-1547 byDaniele daVolterra
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