Lent Daily Devotions 2019 Above All. Through All. In All.

Transcription

1 Lent Daily Devotions 2019 Above All. Through All. In All. Theme Verse: There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:4-6 Week One Contents: One Body. 1.1 Wednesday Ash Wednesday (poem) From Dust We Come and To Dust We Shall Return 1.2 Thursday The Power of a Nod 1.3 Friday From Generation to Generation (story) 1.4 Saturday Sister Tree (poem) 1.5 Sunday I See You (story) 1.6 Monday Entanglement (poem) 1.7 Tuesday We are Not Alone (story) (story)

2 1.1 Ash Wednesday, March 6, 2019 Remember, you are dust, And to dust you shall return. Genesis 3:19 From Dust we Come and to Dust We shall Return Bursting into creation The thrust of Divine Love Sprinkled dust into existence. Birthed in Water. Embolden with Breath. Stars. Seas. Fish. Trees. Rocks. Rivers. You. Me. For it is from dust we come and to dust we shall return. Uniting all, above all, through all, in all. Each inhale and each exhale. Each particle of wonder surrounding us. Each drop of water. Divine Dust of our very essence. For our birth. Through our life. In our death. Comforting The grieving for loved ones now dead. Knowing the air now inhaled Holds particles of the air they breathed too. Carrying unseen connections into the future. This air, this water, this dust. Pieces of the past from generations before. Connections to the future Into all life moving forward. Unites all life now. For it is from dust we come and to dust we shall return. Uniting all, above all, through all, in all. Reflection: Where do you experience the connections between others and the universe?

3 1.2 Thursday, March 7, 2019 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink I was a stranger and you welcomed me, Matthew 25:35 The Power of a Nod Sister Michaela greets me at the door with a simple nod as she takes my hand in welcome, receiving me with kindness and respect. It is the nod that holds my heart affirming something inside me of which I am not aware. It connects me with Sister Michaela beyond our hand shake and words of hello. Her nod begins an enduring friendship in spiritual direction where I wonder aloud about God in my life, struggles with shame that keeps Divine love away and cry with deep grief, mourning the death of my husband. Each time we meet, she greets me with her familiar simple nod and I experience the same inner oneness with her and within myself as I have since our first encounter In time I come to understand that as a Benedictine, Sister Michaela lives the spiritual practice of hospitality. She greets all as if we are Christ. The Christ in her welcomes the Christ in me. She sees in me a glimpse of the holy, even in my brokenness. With the simple gentle nod of her head, she pours out Divine grace through her own words, her own presence, in a quiet still way. With just a nod, we know oneness, compassion and hope. Reflection: Where has Christ come to you through the care of another?

4 1.3 Friday, March 8, 2019 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing. Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100 From Generation to Generation The late May morning is cool and cloud covered, with a wisp of wind caressing Shelly s face. She carries a box with vases of freshly cut peonies, iris and cascading wedding veil. She walks alongside her mother and grandmother just as she has done every Memorial Day as far as she could remember. Shelly knows the routine. They stop at each grave, clean the area of cut grass and weeds, place a vase of flowers at the headstone and then pause in quiet. She knows the stories her grandmother will tell from one grave to the next. First, there is Ernest, the widowed brother whose wife and child died in birthing. Then comes Camilla. The dates March 1950 to May 1950 are carved in the stone. Grandma breathes a long sigh and gently holds Shelly s hand a bit tighter. And then Uncle John, the rugged old man who drank himself into the grave. The routine continues with Auntie Carrie, Grandma s sister Helen, mom s brother Vic, Elizabeth, Grandma s best friend. And finally, Wilhelm. Grandma stands at the grave of her husband of fifty-five years, quiet, gently placing the flowers at her feet wiping her eyes with the hankie she pulls from the breast of her dress. Shelly holds Grandma s hand a bit tighter. Throughout the walk, Shelly feels the breath of her ancestors in the gentle breeze surrounding her. Like Grandma s hankie, Shelly tucks the stories within her heart, trusting the truth she is not alone, but remains connected to a great gathering of saints. Reflection: Who are the saints whose stories bless your life?

5 1.4 Saturday, March 9, 2019 Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all humankind. Job 12:7-10 Sister Tree She waves. Speaks my name Through the clatter of drying leaves. Come, come and know love. Lying next to her, surrendering my body to the ground. Breathing out doubt. Breathing in oxygen for life. Breathing out. She takes my breath. Transforming it. Giving back to me. photo by Elaine K Olson Together. Her breath to me. Mine to her. Completing an ageless rhythm of life. Ruach, Divine Breath. Companioning. Sister tree and me. Reflection: Describe a tree or any place in nature where you have experienced a Holy connection?

6 1.5 Sunday, March 10, 2019 I give you a new commandment, That you love one another. Just as I have loved you, You also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, If you have love for one another. John 13: I See You I pull up a chair and join a circle of women - different in age, in culture, in dress. I do not know their names nor speak their language. The sounds of the city in Tanzania surround us with laughing children, honking horns, roaring motor cycles and shouting street vendors. We huddle close to hear each s others words and listen to the translator to understand in our own language. This takes time and time is a gift. It slows us down to attend more deeply, to notice more intently, to let go of our fear more quickly. It gives us a chance to see beyond the differences and engage within the common bonds of women bearing witness to our mutuality. photo by Elaine K Olson One woman in particular catches my eye. Our common age, greying hair, gnarled arthritic hands and wrinkled brow draws me toward her. We do not speak directly, but a mutual nod, a look of the eye and a smile share a common knowing. Is it a shared grief? Is it the love for family? The struggle of survival? Maybe it is the shared stories of cooking food, washing dishes, changing diapers, caring for the sick, worrying about children, longing to be seen. We never speak to each other but communicate through a nod and a smile. Yet somehow a friendship grows between us. I carry her presence with me, even now as I return home. I discover a oneness beyond words and a relationship beyond time. Reflection: Describe an experience where you made a connection with a stranger and knew that you were both part of the body of Christ?

7 1.6 Monday, March 11, 2019 I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God s mystery. That is, Christ himself. In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2: 2-3 Entanglement Balls of yarn fell off the shelf Landing softly Heaped on the floor. Where a cat found the play-filled treasure Pushing and pulling, Rolling, pawing. The neatly ordered storage Now an entangled array of color. Knotted together, entwined in inescapable unity. Creating a woven cloth of unimaginable beauty. Weaving colors few would dare. No one thread existing independently. Each linked with every other. Pulling one engages the others, Linking more tightly. Moving as one. The cat lying in the midst of it all, purred in delight Entwinement

8 The lives of people Fell into a heap within the earth. Where the Holy found the play-filled treasure Pushing and pulling Rolling and loving. The neatly ordered Now an entangled array of color. Knit together, entwined in escapable unity. Creating a woven world of unimaginable beauty Weaving colors as no human would dare. No one person existing independently. Each linked with every other Pulling on one engages all, Linking more tightly Moving as one. Everything is with everything else. Nothing exists in and of itself. The Divine, lying within its midst sings with delight. Breathing out: uniting all Reflection: When have you felt the joy of the mystery of being united with other people through the presence of God?

9 1.7 Tuesday, March 12, 2019 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. Romans 12: 3-13 We Are Not Alone On this first day of a new job, Julia feels stupid all over again. With so much to learn anew, so many people to meet, the unknowns take away the confidence with which she walked in the door that very morning. As she watches the work of the others and admires their gifts, her own sense of self fades. Inside she grows smaller and smaller. As the day ends, her supervisor, Mary, asks everyone in Julia s unit to come to a meeting. Introductions are made. Affirmations of accomplishments are highlighted stressing the importance of team work and mutuality. In closing, Mary asks the team to gather in a circle. She begins a series of instructions. Outstretch your hands in front of you. Turn your left hand upward and imagine it holds your doubts, need for help, the skills you do not have. Julia s left hand is heavy with the weight of it all. Now, turn the palm of your right hand downward. Within it imagine your gifts, talents, wisdom and strength. Julia is grateful for the reminder for that which she too often diminished. Link hands, one with another, symbolically placing your needs into another s gifts, your gifts into another needs. Each person within the circle responds, holding hands. Julia looks around and realizes she was not alone. Together, the team has what is needed to carry each other through. Together, Julia knows she will be ok. Reflection: What are the gifts you bring as you are part of a team working together for the reign of God?