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.