Lent - Week One (Recognize)

Week one – Recognize

Life is constantly evolving and changing.  We may try to hold onto moments in time, but they quickly escape from our grasp.  Just as we sing “time like an ever flowing stream soon bears us all away; it flies forgotten as a dream dies at the opening day” (O God Our Help in Ages Past, ELW #632).  Even the good moments bring change to bear upon our lives – we are not the same today as we were yesterday.  We are ever evolving.

Sometimes these changes are gradual and other times abrupt and unexpected.  Sometimes we plan and prepare for them and other times, they come crashing into our midst.  Change, even good changes, can bring grief as we seek to make adjustments in our lives for our new circumstances.   And more often than not, we can’t undo the changes that find us.

We drop a cup and it shatters into a myriad of pieces as it hits an unforgiving surface.  It cannot be restored to its original state.  In the same way, our lives can be nicked, chipped and shattered as something drops away or changes.  Even as we heal, just like that broken cup, we will not be the same.

What are the changes that you have most recently experienced?

How are our lives like this broken cup? 

    What has been broken in your life?

          Your own carelessness? 

   That of someone else? 

By something else?

Recognizing our own brokenness and that of the world is the first piece that needs to be mended in order to move us towards peace.  Ignoring or discarding these pieces of ourselves will not bring shalom. Facing the truth of the changes and our brokenness provides the outlet for healing.

In Desmond and Mpho Tutu’s book “The Book of Forgiving”, they talk about the importance of both telling our story and naming our hurts.  In doing so, we acknowledge and accept the brokenness that we are experiencing.  Being honest with ourselves and others help us to recognize our need for wholeness and with that, our need for God.

The prophet Joel begins his book with laments over the brokenness of the world around him.  Lamenting is the telling, the naming and the recognizing the pieces that have broken away in our lives.  Numerous Psalms also contain cries of lament (see Psalms 22, 88,137 as a few examples).

Using the resources below along with a times of prayer and reflection, recognize and acknowledge your own cries of lament for yourself, others and the world.

Pieces for reflection: each week, different passages, poems, songs, etc. will be suggested to use for your own reflections on the week’s theme.  Use whichever ones are most helpful for you.  As you do so, use the following questions to guide you in your reflections:

1)   What about this speaks to my own life?

2)   What might God be saying to me through this?

3)   How will I approach my life in a new way?

Suggested resources:

1)   Read Joel 1: 1-12

2)   Songs: “Hear This” and “Cry out to you” (link: https://open.spotify.com/album/1kdoLnB1Ixcchj11bD4i7q)

3)   Read Matthew 18: 15-35

4)   Prayer/poem by Joyce Rupp

It is time for me

To see the flaws

Of myself

And stop

Being alarmed

It is time for me

To halt my drive

For perfection

And to accept

My blemishes

It is time for me

To receive

Slowly evolving growth

The kind that comes

In God’s own good time

And pays no heed

To my panicky pushing

It is time for me

To embrace

My humanness

Weekly reflections written and developed by Pastor Jennifer E.  Boyd

Additional Resources used:

The Millennial Narrative by Jaco Hamman (weekly themes gleaned from this book)

“The Cup of our Life: A guide for spiritual growth” by Joyce Rupp

The Book of Forgiving by Desmond Tutu & Mpho Tutu

 “We will Remember” CD, songs and music by Christopher Williams

All Biblical citations are from the New Revised Standard version (unless otherwise noted)