To
follow
does not mean
leaving behind
and not looking back.
Cast off fears and judgement.
Pick up love and compassion.
Follow by leading with the heart.
By sowing grace and tending mercy,
we are walking on the path with Jesus.
Time
to pray
in secret,
to be humble
and work inwardly.
To listen for God’s will
and get ours out of the way.
From ashes to alleluias,
embracing the wilderness within.
Be still and know that God is in the pause.
Breath
pulsing.
A heart song.
Its rhythmic beat
energizing and
at the same time, soothing.
It is the Holy Spirit,
opening and shaping channels,
the divine whisperer breathing love
into vessels brimming with compassion.
It is also in silence that the breath
is the soundtrack for contemplation,
the flow in and out restoring
the mind and heart to center,
granting permission to
seek nothing, only
to listen for
the quiet
voice of
God.
Lent
offers
a rare chance
for breathing room,
contemplative space
to carve new grooves, starting
on the inner path, the one
at the center of our being.
New channels of energy open,
flowing out into God’s whole creation.
Shed
the pounds.
Emotions
are heavy, like
unwanted baggage,
crowding into spaces
too small to hold excesses.
Gently unpack your convictions,
and with care, do not replace with guilt.
Travel lightly for the journey takes strength.
What
we do
and don’t do
does not matter
to God, who loves us
as we are, sins and all.
It matters we are aware
of the impact of our footprint,
as we live within God’s creation,
so that we can love ourselves and others.
Where
is your
holy space?
Altars in church?
Sands by the ocean?
Summit on the mountain?
Look no further than within.
Meditate in your own stillness.
For where you are, God is there also,
making beneath your feet a holy space.
Holy spaces are not in just one place.
They are anywhere and everywhere,
at the same and different times,
in places of beauty and
the most desolate spots.
For the love of God
is within us
creating
holy
space.
What
makes a
Holy Lent?
Contemplation?
Prayer, atoning
for acts done and undone?
Fasting from hasty judgements?
Perhaps we will find the answer
by living the questions, wandering
in the wilderness, with a contrite heart.
Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer. –Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
Lent
beckons.
Walk into
the wilderness.
Challenge heart and mind
to see through spirit eyes.
Do not lead, follow the Way,
wandering unknown heights and depths.
Go inward when the darkness descends.
Trust that Divine light will guide the way home.
Seek and Ye Shall Find
Love
surrounds
the Christ child.
Shepherds draw near.
Angels adore him.
Wisemen arrive with gifts.
His birth is a miracle.
We watch thousands of years later
for angels. Lo, Christ is among us.
Seek where love is, for there ye shall find him.
Windows To The Spirit 