by Christine Sine
Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent for Western churches, and though most of us have heard of Ash Wednesday and are getting ready to celebrate it with the imposition of ashes on our foreheads, many of us are a little confused about the days that precede it. However I thought that this was a good time to think about adding Clean Monday to our liturgical calendar even though it is not a celebration most Western Christians are aware of.
For Eastern Orthodox Christians, Clean Monday, the Monday before Ash Wednesday, is the first day of Great Lent. In Greece it is a public holiday. Because Orthodox celebrations still follow the Julian calendar rather than the Georgian calendar we are familiar with, this year Clean Monday is on February 27th as Eastern Orthodox Ash Wednesday is March 1st. Clean Monday is a reminder that we should begin Lent with good intentions and a desire to clean our spiritual house. It refers to the leaving behind of sinful attitudes and non-fasting foods, a day of strict fasting for Eastern Catholics and orthodox, including abstinence not only from meat but from eggs and dairy products as well.
Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent in the Western Church. “Shrove” is the past tense of the word “shrive,” which means to hear a confession, assign penance, and absolve from sin. Shrove Tuesday is a reminder that we are entering a season of penance.
Shrove Tuesday is also known as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras (which is simply French for Fat Tuesday). In Italy, Fat Tuesday is known as carnevale – goodbye to meat – from which we get our English word carnival. Traditionally people held one last rich feast, using up perishables like eggs, butter and milk before the fast of Lent began. Now in some places, like New Orleans, this has become a huge celebration that really has nothing to do with the beginning of Lent. Our church, St Andrews Episcopal in Seattle always holds a wonderful Mardi Gras celebration that is also a fundraiser for the youth team’s summer outreach. It is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate together and enjoy New Orleans Jambalaya.
For many however this is still a significant liturgical celebration. Churches often hold pancake suppers, sometimes as a way to reach out to their neigbours. You can find a great collection of recipes and traditions from around the world for Shrove Tuesday in Fat Tuesday Recipes. If your church does not celebrate Shrove Tuesday you might like to consider this wonderfully creative Shrove Tuesday celebration by Lilly Lewin.
The following prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian is a common prayer used during this season.
O Lord and Master of my life, keep from me the spirit of indifference and discouragement, lust of power and idle chatter. [kneel/prostration]
Instead, grant to me, Your servant, the spirit of wholeness of being, humble-mindedness, patience, and love. [kneel/prostration]
O Lord and King, grant me the grace to be aware of my sins and not to judge my brother; for You are blessed now and ever and forever. Amen. [kneel/prostration]
This year World Social Justice Day, National Love Your Pet Day and the Lenten tradition of Clean Monday all happen on the same day. So you can scrub your house clean in preparation for Lent, like spring cleaning but being able to give it a spiritual twist and not feel so fed up about doing it, as you love your pet and ponder social justice. Interesting too that World Social Justice day comes in Black History month. Is it possible to look at Black history without thinking about social justice? Interesting too that Christine suggested “Breaking Down Walls” as the theme for Lent. Perhaps it needs to start beforehand? In fact that isn’t a real question. Of course it should start beforehand. We shouldn’t wait until there is a designated day or month to think about social justice, Black history or even loving our pets.
With Love Your Pet and World Social Justice on the same day I wondered which one more people would focus on. I am suspecting it would be to love your pet. Why? Because that is easy. Our pets give us something back. They love on us too. But social justice? Well that’s a hard one. For a start, what does it mean? And will it give us anything in return? I think too often as human beings in our modern world we expect something in return. I remember when people would come round with a bucket collecting for some charity, but now when you do something for charity – whether a marathon at home, some many push ups, going up in a hot air balloon, walking the Great Wall of China, or whatever – you will get a reward for your efforts to raise that money. You will get something back.
I think of Tyre Nichols and other deaths that happen in the so-called civilized world. I wonder if those policemen love their pets. A bit of me thinks they probably do. Are they bad men? Well they did a bad thing, but if we are going to think about World Social Justice should we be looking at people like them too? Or is it easier to say they are evil and don’t deserve any justice? What would Jesus do?
I’m sure on this day if Jesus was walking in our world he would not have trouble choosing. But then I don’t think Jesus would need a specific day to think about Social Justice, loving a pet or even having stuff in his house that needed cleaning out.
Is the “Clean house” at the start of Lent more of a metaphor for something spiritual as well being a physical thing? I wonder if it is about cleaning out ourselves so that during the season of Lent we aren’t just going through the motions of reading devotions dedicated to the season, going to services, and fasting, but our “houses/hearts” are already cleaned so we can understand what Lent is all about and get close to God, and so when the Crucifixion and Resurrection come our hearts are in a place to fully receive all that is offered in both those amazing events.
If we took seriously the “clean house/heart” and stepped into this Lent season and the fullness of what Jesus has done for us then we would not need a specific day to think about World Social Justice because it would be at the forefront of not just our minds but our actions every single day.
And I do think maybe having a National Love Your Pet day is really unnecessary because most of us with pets love them each and every single day much more than we care about many other things.
Perhaps someone should do a “Love people not of your social group more than you love your pets” day?
So today as we have all these things to think about, where will your focus be? Social Justice and how you can be more involved with that? Spring cleaning your house? Spring cleaning your heart? Or loving on your dog, cat, bird, rabbit, etc? Will you pick the easy one or the hard one? Or is it possible to do them all?
A contemplative service with music in the spirit of Taizé. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers.
Thank you for praying with St Andrews Episcopal Church Seattle.!
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756.
“Rabboni Beloved”
By Kester Limner and Andy Myers, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY)
“O You Are Beyond All Things”
Words and music by Taizé Copyright and all rights reserved by GIA/Les Presses de Taizé
“Down in the River to Pray”
Traditional American spiritual, public domain
Arrangement by Kester Limner, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY)
“When He Cometh”
Public domain hymn, written in 1856 by William Orcutt Cushing, who was a Methodist minister and advocate for the education of blind children. Originally, the lyrics were written as “make up His jewels”, but my mother always sang it to me as “take up”, so that’s how I sing it. I like the image of God collecting his scattered treasures, like the woman seeking the lost coin in Luke 15. –Kester
Readings quoted in this service include:
Excerpt from Transfiguration by Edwin Muir; “Weird” by Steve Garnaas-Holmes (unfoldinglight.net)
by Christine Sine – Originally posted here on May 20th, 2019.
When the Bible declares that we are made in the “image and likeness” of the Creator, it is affirming that creativity is at our core just as it lies at the core of the Creator of all things. (Creativity – Matthew Fox)
This week has overflowed with awe and wonder for me because in the appreciation of creativity, I have encountered my Creator in a very special and intimate way. Creativity is not just all around us. It is also in us. It is a gift from God, and a gift that wells up and flows out of each of us, drawing us into intimate relationship with God. It is indeed” at our core”, meant not just to be acknowledged, but to be savoured, admired and expressed, enriching us, and those around us in the process.
Creativity – and with it creation – is still very much in process. There is a river of creativity running through all things, all relationships, all beings, all corners and centers of this universe. We are here to join in, to get wet, to jump in to ride these rapids, wild and sacred as they be (Creativity: Matthew Fox 66)
This week has emphasized this for me in many ways. The creativity of God, seen in the beauty of spring blossoms, unfurling leaves, even the changing light and shade of shadows sweeps us into a breathtaking display of awe and wonder, stirring us into our own expressions of creativity. This week as enjoyed my awe and wonder walks, my gaze shifted towards other aspects of life that instilled awe in me, and now I am surrounded on all sides with a spectacular array of awe inspiring stimuli and creativity.
More than anything it has been peoples’ creativity, this gift from God that also reveals God to us, that has caught my attention.
Colorful kōlams, such as this one by Godavari Krishnamurthy, are drawn during festivals. R. KRISHNAMURTHY/COURTESY OF KAVERI PURANDHAR
My eyes were riveted by this article that talked about the incredible artistic creativity of millions of women in India who use rice flour and geometric design to create pictorial prayers.
BEFORE THE FIRST RAYS OF sunlight stream across the rice fields and mud roads in the Nilgiri Mountains, before they force their way through the high-rises in the urban jungle of Chennai and Madurai, the women of Tamil Nadu are up for the day. In the dark, they clean the threshold to their home, and, following a centuries-long tradition, painstakingly draw beautiful, ritualistic designs called kōlam, using rice flour. Read the entire article here
Closer to home, I have been admiring this beautiful piece of art painted by Lara Cooper in Australia who used a photo I posted on Facebook last year for her inspiration.
Tom with Goldie – artwork by Lara Cooper.
Then there is this hymn that Carol Dixon sent me from the UK.
Signs of God ‘s glory (Tune: Bard of Armargh/Streets of Laredo)
What signs of God’s glory are seen in the city,
hemmed in by the buildings of concrete and ore?
For we cannot tread the rich earth on hard pavements,
or hear the sheep bleating above the cars’ roar.
Yet still we can scour the sky for God’s patterns,
or notice a flower blooming on some waste ground;
and glimpse in a spider web shimmering dewdrops,
for in the unnoticed our Creator is found.
We see God behind the sad eyes of a vagrant,
hear God in the cry of a child who’s afraid;
and in work worn features of stressed city slickers,
our God reaches out to the world that he made.
So help us to notice, great God of Creation,
your handiwork traces in country and town,
in city or wilderness, may we discover
that your living presence is always around.
© Carol Dixon July 2009
What is Your Response?
Where have you expressed your creativity this week?
What creativity of others has caught your attention?
In what ways have you been drawn into a more intimate relationship with God through this creativity?
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Did you know that alongside Christine Sine’s book The Gift of Wonder, we have many resources available to you? The free downloadable bonus packet or beautiful prayer cards featuring prayers from the book, for example – something to hold and behold! Or perhaps you’d like to journey through the book alongside a retreat – we have that too! You can check it all out in our shop!
Last week on Friday, I was in beautiful Northern California having communion over looking the Pacific Ocean with the wonderful group of pilgrims who came to the Finding Your Thinplace Retreat in Wine Country. We gathered at The Bishop’s Ranch in beautiful Healdsburg, CA near the Russian River. Our goal was to rest, refresh and refill or empty cups. I know that my cup is overflowing with the beauty of the place and the people who gathered together and created a space to celebrate life with Jesus.
Finding Your Thinplace Communion
I love celebrating! I think we all need to take more opportunities to celebrate each other, and the events and ‘wins” in our lives. Too often we don’t take the time to notice small victories and wonders around us. And after all the trauma and drama of the last few years, we need to relearn celebrating while we take time to process and grieve.
When I was a director of Spiritual Formation, I used to get in trouble for talking about celebrating Lent. Lent isn’t usually seen as celebration.. I guess a better word, would be PRACTICE rather than celebration. But I’m wondering today about how I might celebrate in my Lenten Practice this year.
I put together this list a couple of years ago for our thinplace community. I invited everyone to consider the type of Lenten Practice they needed. I am asking asking each of us this year, what type of Lenten Practice do you need in 2023? What kind of Lenten Journey is God inviting you on?
Lent= The Season of the Church Year before Holy Week and Easter. 40 Days not including Sunday.
Sundays are Feast Days so whatever you might give up can be enjoyed if you wanted to do so.
Three Traditional Pillars of Lent are:
Prayer
Fasting
Alms Giving and Justice Practice
LENTEN PRACTICE IDEAS
What do you want your Lenten Journey to be like this year?
What is Jesus inviting you to focus on as you practice Lent this year?
What do you need in your spiritual life as you begin Lent?
How can you grow closer to Jesus between now and Easter Sunday?
SOME IDEAS TO CONSIDER:
AN ADVENTURE:
This practice of Lent might include physical activity to get you outside or it might include creative activity that you’ve been putting off or neglecting. Where do you experience the love and presence of Jesus? When and how do you feel closest to God? That’s your Thinplace! This could this be your area of practice and focus this Lent.
Or Do you need to experience something new with God? Trying the adventure of a silent retreat or a sabbath practice. Planning more fun and play with God. Perhaps learning something new with God, like reading a biography, learning about a new spiritual practice or even trying a new hobby that could help you connect more with Jesus. Or expanding your knowledge on issues of justice could be the adventure you and Jesus go on this Lent.
Sabbath as Resistance, New Edition with Study Guide by Walter Brueggemann
Practicing: Changing Yourself to Change the World by Kathy Escobar
Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Gregory Boyle
Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk: A Christian’s Guide to Engaging Politics by Eugene Cho
Bread for the Resistance: Forty Devotions for Justice People by Donna Barber
A PILGRIMAGE:
The Practice of Pilgrimage involves seeing the gifts of the Journey. Most of us cannot travel to amazing places like a regular pilgrimage would involve, like to Iona, Ireland, or Spain. How can you do a pilgrimage in your own town? Discover places of significance …places of prayer, places of conflict, places of beauty and go see and take time to notice what God is doing there.
Take a photo pilgrimage through your past trips and journeys and remember what you learned and discovered about yourself and God, asking Jesus to show you new things from these trips and experiences. Do a photo pilgrimage in your town/city/daily life.
Remember that on pilgrimage, everything is a gift, from the crying babies, to the lines you stand in and the interruptions and detours along the way. All are gifts!
Celtic Daily Prayer: Book One: The Journey Begins (Northumbria Community) by Northumbria Community (2015-09-24) by Northumbria Community;
Celtic Daily Prayer: Book Two: Farther Up and Farther In (Northumbria Community) by The Northumbria Community
Lost in Wonder: Rediscovering the Spiritual Art of Attentiveness by Esther de Waal
A Seven Day Journey With Thomas Merton by Esther De Waal
FASTING:
Practice fasting from politics, news, whining, technology, social media, shopping, or any thing getting in the way of your relationship with Jesus.
God’s Chosen Fast by Arthur Wallis
Fasting: Spiritual Freedom Beyond Our Appetites by Lynne M. Baab
May It Be So: Forty Days with the Lord’s Prayer by Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson
WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE/ CAMP OUT
Practices might include hiking, camping, taking time out in nature and places of beauty
Afoot and Lighthearted: A Journal for Mindful Walking by Bonnie Smith Whitehouse
*In God’s Creation: Devotions for the Outdoors by Barbara Baranowski
The Gift of Wonder: Creative Practices for Delighting in God by Christine Aroney-Sine
HONEYMOON
How can you fall more in love with Jesus between now and Easter? Honeymoons are times for the couple to focus on one another. Sometimes honeymoons are in beautiful places. Usually Honeymoons have lots of time to be alone and be together. What would a honeymoon with Jesus look like? What would it be like to focus on Jesus as your true love? How could you receive more of the love and acceptance of Jesus? How could you truly experience and know that you are God’s Beloved?
You Are the Beloved: Daily Meditations for Spiritual Living by Henri J. M. Nouwen
Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World by Herni J.M. Nouwen
Lenten Hobo Honeymoon (Daily Reflections for the Journey of Lenten) by Edward Hays
RETREAT
We are all feeling exhausted and burned out due to the pandemic and everything else in our lives. A Retreat Practice might include Sabbath, Silence, and/or Journaling. You could plan actual times of “retreat” each week. Or plan to go on a retreat during the course of Lent. Taking time for creative practices, long walks, bubble baths and times of prayer can all be a part of your Retreat Practice this Lent. You can also join Christine Sine for Preparing for the Garden Walk of Holy Week Retreat
Sabbath Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest by Lynne M. Baab
A Retreat with Thomas Merton: A Seven-Day Spiritual Journey by Esther Waal
Prayer: Forty Days of Practice by Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson
The Cup of Our Life: A Guide to Spiritual Growth by Joyce Rupp
SERVING:.Showing God’s love in a practical way! Who in your life, your family, your neighborhood, or at work is in need of extra love, help, or compassion? What are some practical ways you can serve and give to them during Lent this year?
Ask Jesus to show you.
Take time to brainstorm with friends or family, make a list, pray about this.
MUSIC and ART:
Create a play list for your Lenten practice
Play music as a part of your Lenten practice
Create a collage or other art piece as a part of your practice.
LENTEN COLORING SHEETPDF
LENTEN COLORING SHEET to PRINT
If you are interested in Pilgrimage, I am curating a pilgrimage to Scotland THIS YEAR! August 28-September 4, 2023. We will be staying at the St Columba Hotel on Iona. More Information FindingYourThinplace.com contact LILLY LEWIN freerangeworship@gmail.com and we are working to get the price down, so more folks can participate this year!
IONA martyrs bay
by Corrine Lund – originally posted here on May 15, 2019.
Sometimes I think that awe and wonder are similar in the eyes and mind of a seven year old as they must have been with our Creator God when our home planet began to take shape. Awe and Wonder. For the amazing mind of my seven year old grandson, they two words occupy much of his observing and thinking time.
Early in his young life he named me “Da”, for no reason other than that was to be my name. He once told me that he will always call me by that name. So, a conversation might go something like this:
Da, if you hurry we can get to that open space where we can see the crazy colors in the sunset. It is so beautiful!
Da, look at the colors on the wings of this little bug. It’s like a rainbow!
Da, this worm is huge. Does God tell it how far down to burrow so it lives through the winter?
Da, I wonder how we could live on another planet…we need trees and water. And how long would it take to get there. If we got there, I wonder if we could ever get back to earth?
My world has become filled with the awe and wonder seen through the eyes of a young child. A child who loves the creatures and the dirt and the night sky….and is filled with the awesome world in which he lives but has so many questions about ‘I wonder” or “Why?’
“Da!” he will say as though I need to see something spectacular right now or that he has a question to share so that we can ‘wonder’ together. Both usually begin with “Da” and I know I must listen.
My favorite Psalm…139:
You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
God shares some awesome stuff with us. And do you know what else God tells me? I even know you by your name. And God continues to share some awesome things with me and then…I wonder – how could that be?
And adventure will soon provide our family with an overload of Awe and Wonder as we travel to Yellowstone National Park. Again my thoughts are pulled back to Creation. Volcanoes, geysers, pools of boiling mud, mountains and wild animals How much more awe and wonder can a person manage!
But through the eyes of a little boy, earth worms, sunsets and bugs carry just as much weight in the awesomeness department. What an amazing God to provide for us such a world. “Da, come look at this bug. Right now before it gets away!”
He always calls my name.
God always calls me by my name.
Awesome
Totally filled with wonder.
We all need the Wholeness of God…this resource includes reflections and activities for coping and thriving during the COVID-19 challenges in search of shalom as well as hope for restoration during and after this period of social distancing.
I love it when the snowdrops flower. They are the first touch of spring in my garden, encouraging me to believe that change is on the way and a new season of growth and flourishing is about to emerge.
For me personally it is very much a season of change as I prepare to travel to Australia next week to see my family. It is my first visit in 4 years and I can hardly wait. I feel a little ambivalent about how to approach my spiritual life during the journey however. I leave on Ash Wednesday and will spend the first 2 weeks of Lent in Australia, focused on everything but fasting, repentance and preparation for Easter. This week I will set up my new Lenten contemplative garden and perform my finding beauty in the midst of ashes ritual a week early, but apart from that I am not sure where my Lenten journey will take me this year. That is part of the reason I shared Getting Lost as A Spiritual Practice for my Meditation Monday this week. Getting lost is a practice that encourages me to walk slowly, to look with wide open eyes and avidly listening ears, to pay attention with all my senses. It is one way of saying it is not the destination that matters but rather the journey. From that perspective it is a perfect practice for Lent, a season for slowing down and noticing the journey rather than worrying about the destination.
Once I return, my focus will be on my upcoming Lenten retreat Preparing for the Garden Walk of Holy Week, a quiet reflective retreat the week before Palm Sunday to help prepare us for the challenging week ahead. This retreat is not just for gardeners. It is for all of us who want to follow Christ into the resurrection world of Easter. In the last few days of his life, Jesus moved from garden to garden from suffering to resurrection, a concept that has long intrigued me. This year, my reading has expanding this understanding and the incredible connections between Christ’s journey and creation. I hope you will join me for what will be an inspiring and I think revelatory retreat time.
Once again I want to highlight the resource lists for Lent, Holy Week and Easter on Godspacelight that you might like to revisit as they have now been updated for 2023. There are lots of links to prayers, posts and activities. Our prayers by well known religious figures like Henri Nouwen, Mother Theresa, and Thomas Merton are interspersed with prayers from Godspace writers and friends in the every popular Lenten prayers post. If there are other resources that you think should have been on these lists please do not hesitate to send us your suggestions. If you know a prayer that you think should be on this list please let us know.
I have not forgotten that today is Valentine’s day. In fact some are calling February the love month, and what better place to focus our reflections at this season than on the love of God as it is expressed in 1 Corinthians 13. Lilly Lewin’s Freerange Friday: To be Kept by the Father’s Love is a great place to start as you reflect on God’s incredible love. Hilary Horn’s Building Deeper Connection During the Love Month is another excellent read.
We continue to lift Turkey and Syria and Ukraine in our prayers. Our hearts ache for the many people in all our countries who face the threat of violence and oppression. As I prayed this morning another prayer surfaced in my mind:
I start the day in the dark,
Aware that alone I cannot see
A single step that lies ahead.
All is mystery, hidden, unknown
In this tainted world
Of sorrow and heartache,
God’s glory still shines.
Only God’s light illumines the path.
Only Christ’s light shines around us.
The darkness is not dark to God.
Even in the midst of tragedy,
God’s light shines.
In all things, around all things, through all things.
Illumining the darkness with God’s eternal flame.
Many blessings
Christine Sine
Preparing for the Garden Walk of Holy Week
In the last few days of his life, Jesus moved from garden to garden from suffering to resurrection.
Join Christine Sine for a Lent retreat that reflects on this journey and prepares for the challenging week that follows Palm Sunday.
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