Celtic cross decorating altar retreat 2011
Lent begins in a few days and I am looking forward to celebrating this season with you. There is still time to join up to participate in the events and activities we are preparing. I hope that you will share these with your friends and send us feedback on what you do to celebrate this season of retreat, reflection and refocusing.
There is still time to sign up for Saturday’s retreat at the Mustard Seed House too.
The season of Lent awakens in all of us a hunger for deeper intimacy with God. Our world is alive with the presence of God, beckoning for our attention. Yet we are often distracted by busyness, worry and work.
Explore the simple things of everyday life – breathing, drinking a glass of water, running, picking up a stone or taking a photo – that open our senses to the God who shines through every moment and enlivens every creature. Develop new practices not just for this season but for future as well. Sign up here
If you cannot join us for the morning consider your own retreat, alone or together with friends. Carve out 2-3 hours at a minimum. Find a place with few distractions where you can sit quietly before God and reflect on your spiritual state. You might like to start with a breathing prayer to help you relax, or with a spiritual audit. If you keep a journal, you might like to read back over your entries for the last few months. What are the common themes? What has God been saying to you? How could you refocus your life to be more attentive to God during the season of Lent? Establish one new practice for the season of Lent. How will your keep yourself accountable to that practice?
Many of you have already downloaded the free study guide and purchased Return to Our Senses as a focus for the season. Others I know are preparing posts for the series that will begin on this blog on Thursday entitled Return to Our Senses in Lent. There is still time to contribute if you would like to share your own Lenten practices with us. The focus for this series is practices that transform your everyday activities and encounters into prayer and spiritual practices. Prayer is meant to interweave through all of life but we still need help to recognize how to integrate prayerful practices into our day. I hope that you will use this Lenten season to deepen your own relationship with God by establishing new spiritual disciplines.