A Journey Through Lent- Day 3 (February 16, 2024)

 

Theme: Courage

Scripture: Isaiah 41:10 The Message Version
Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.

 

Devotional:
Recently I was doing some research on support groups for addiction (think: Alcoholics Anonymous) and I came across the serenity prayer that is often recited in the beginning of the group meeting. In case you’ve never heard it before, it says: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” I was immediately struck by the request for courage to change. For me, it seemed odd to need courage to change but as I reflected more on the idea of change, I found that it makes complete sense to ask for courage. From my perspective, no one likes to change or rather no one likes the process of change. Change is hard. For some, it is difficult to imagine letting go of people, behaviors, or ideas that, at some point in our lives, were loving, helpful, or beneficial. And it is fruitful to reflect on how letting go of these things that are less than advantageous now could serve us better for the future. But, admittedly, it is scary. In many ways, we have felt protected by those people or circumstances and the idea of letting it go takes courage. Courage. The root word for courage is “cor” – the Latin word for heart. How fitting, in fact, is this root of courage? It certainly takes heart (courage) to recognize the need for change. It takes heart (courage) to make changes. And it takes heart (courage) to know that even if making the change is difficult, you will reap the benefits of listening to your heart and pressing toward change. Think about the last time you made a difficult but necessary change. Did it involve any heart work? Did you feel lighter once you committed to the change? The work of change involves the heart in ways that would be impossible to understand unless you’re willing to admit the pain, the grief of change. It is not easy letting go of something or someone that – at one point – felt right or good. But if you listen to your heart, leaning into courage to make the change, there will be a mending of your heart that is inevitable. During this Lenten season, seek God’s change for your life and have courage to know that even through the change God is with you. 

Prayer:
God, change is hard. Please strengthen my mind to endure the difficulties of change. Guard my heart and give me the insight to recognize the areas of my life that need change. If it is a behavior, a relationship or even a way of thinking that needs to change, please impart wisdom for me to know, eyes for me to see, and the heart (courage) to make the change. Do not allow me to be overwhelmed by the process of change but to step into Your guidance that will lead me toward change. Annihilate the fear that seeks to destroy me in the process of change, by giving me a divine calm to trust that change is necessary. Send me toward people who will support my desire to change and remove any person who attempts to thwart the changes that You are calling for me. Selah.

Reflection Question:
Are there areas of your life that need to be challenged or changed? What are you holding on to because of your fear of the process of change?

A Journey Through Lent - Day 2 (February 15, 2024)

 

Theme: Communal Call & Change

Scripture: Isaiah 58:6 The Message Version
“This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts.”

Devotional:
“The world doesn’t revolve around you, Dawnn!” I remember the first time I heard that shouted at me during conflict. I was stunned. Even though I knew the accuracy of the statement, it hurt. It was a painful reminder that it isn’t all about me. I don’t live life on an island. I exist in community. Listen, life is hard. Full stop. *And I believe that our healing, the change that we are seeking, will come in community. I am a firm believer in this idea that ‘the love you give is the love you will receive,’ ‘the energy you sow into the atmosphere is the energy you will receive in return,’ and ‘you will reap what you sow!’ Regardless of how pithy these sentiments are, a truth resonates in them, too. Of course, there is sin and evil that exists in our world, which, for some, translates to zero control over what happens to us. And perhaps there is some truth in that, too. What I mean here, however, is that we have a responsibility to give out what we expect (hope for?) in return. It’s as simple as that, I think. A Change *Is Gonna Come *AND we have a responsibility to wait, pray, act, and receive until it does. During this Lenten season, let’s pray for change, exist in community together, and love each other deeply and wholly until a change comes.

Prayer:
God, give us strength to believe that a change is gonna come. Yes, even despite what we can see and regardless of what we think we know, a change is gonna come. Grant us peace in the waiting. Keep our minds focused on the work You have given for this season. There is work to be done – in our families; our communities; our churches; and in ourselves! Give us clarity about how to move forward in the work. Help us to not lag, run ahead or be distracted by what is on the right or the left. Guide our feet, our hands, and our hearts. Selah.

Reflection Question:
What work has God given you to do – in this season – to strengthen your heart, mind, and spirit before the change comes?

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A Journey Through Lent- Day 1 (Ash Wednesday, February 14, 2024)

 

Theme: Listening

Scripture: Proverbs 1:5 New International Version
…let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance…

Devotional:
For years I have said, “I am listening for God’s voice and discerning what God is asking me to do.” And for years I was often in conflict about God’s voice versus the voice of others or my own. It is not that I wasn’t listening for God. Moreso, it was the noise around me that was so incredibly loud and extremely close. Our current context demands our ability to listen and discern. We are constantly bombarded with images, ideas, and noises from everywhere and these things are sometimes in competition with what God is speaking for our lives. It is important to be intentional about listening to God’s voice for direction because it is so easy to conflate our desires and wishes with God’s plan and purpose for our lives. Have you ever prayed for something or someone and then sat in confusion because you were not confident that it was God speaking and not an unconscious desire to get your own way? No? Just me? Ok.  I do admit that sometimes it is difficult to discern God’s voice from my own. I also admit that I have asked God to speak in a voice so distinctive that I would have no doubt that it was God speaking. And sometimes God obliged. The reasoning or guidance would come via a “voice” that confirmed it was truly God. For example, the “Word from God” would come from a trusted friend, a mentor or even scripture. But there was a turning point in my spiritual maturation when I felt challenged from God to listen and know that it was indeed God. It required a level of trust that God heard me. It demanded a level of humility that admitted I needed God’s guidance. And it took discipline to “be still and know.” Hearing is one thing, but listening is another. For me, hearing is an involuntary process. The sounds and vibrations enter the ear and travel to the brain, alerting it to a sound. Listening, on the other hand, is voluntary. It is a conscious act of understanding what was heard and an effort to make meaning of what was said – or in some cases, not said. You can hear and not listen. That is your choice. For me, it is a costly choice, though. I have lived with hard consequences enough to know that it is sometimes to my own peril that I hear and don’t listen. During this Lenten season, I am committing to listening. Although the noises around me are deafening, I am listening for God’s voice to guide, compel, or push me forward. Join me?

Prayer:
God, I am listening. And for the times that I simply seek to hear, compel me to listen. Silence the noise around me or, better yet, grant me discernment so that I can listen amid the noise. Help me to listen to your directions. Keep the distractions at a minimum so that confusion is not my companion on this journey. Help me to know Your voice and to make moves that propel me toward Your path for me. God, for the times when I am not sure of what to say, listen to my heart. Though it sometimes betrays me, pushing me toward decisions and circumstances that don’t align with Your plan for me, my heart desires to do good. It wants to listen and follow Your path. I am listening for Your truth. I am listening for Your guidance. I am listening for You. Selah.

Reflection Question:
Who are you listening to? Who has grabbed your attention, refusing to let go and is it serving God’s purpose for your life? Reflect on how you listen to God. Do you listen with intention to obey? Do you listen with a grateful heart? Do you listen at all?

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A Journey Through Lent with Pastor Dawnn

 A Note for You...

Welcome to A Journey Through Lent with Pastor Dawnn. My guess is that you are here because you are interested in connecting with the community. Or maybe you are here because you don’t know anything about Lent, what it is, or what it is not. In either case, welcome. A Journey Through Lent will invite you to learn, engage, and reflect through scripture, music, and prayer.

This Lenten devotional was an invitation from God, for me to deepen my faith. God and I were in conversation about my desire to engage God and my faith in ways that felt tangible. In this season of my life, I need to feel God in a real way and the liturgical season of lent seemed like a good time to explore what that could look like. For those of you with the question of “what is the liturgical season of lent,” keep reading.

In short, Lent is, in the Christian church, a period of penitential preparation for Easter.  In Western churches it begins on Ash Wednesday, six and a half weeks before Easter, and provides a 40-day period for fasting and abstinence.

For years, my Lenten practice had been to abstain from something I enjoy (think: television, social media, etc.) and to use the time spent previously indulging those things to pray to God. And for a season, that was enough. At the end of lent, I felt somewhat revived mostly, I think, because I had spent intentional time with God that would have otherwise been filled doing other things. I did this practice for years. In fact, I started when I was a kid and hardly ever deviated from the things from which I chose to abstain. About 10 years ago, I was invited to participate in lent in a way that invited me to “abstain from” and “add to.” In other words, I added journaling and prayer to my Lenten practice, still abstaining from indulgences like social media, but being intentional about connecting with God in ways that felt real rather than abstract. I began to have conversation with God as though I was speaking to a friend. I would write questions in my journal that reflected my inner thoughts. I listened to music that resonated with whatever I was feeling for that day. But after a while – some years – even that practice fell flat. So, I completely abandoned any practice of lent. I ate whatever I desired. I watched tv if I wanted to. And I didn’t spend any time in reflection about God or faith or anything that God could have been speaking to me about my continued purpose as a person, pastor or human, even.

I admit that recently (last year), when lent began, I felt the pressure of my previous Lenten practices beckoning me to return. You may remember last year’s Lenten season; we did a 24-hour prayer vigil and an experiential prayer labyrinth that engaged the senses. It was cool but it still didn’t provide me with what I wanted. I had begun to feel empty, in general, but, more specifically, as the season of lent would begin and people around me (pastoral colleagues, friends) would post their Lenten practices, I would sit with two distinct attitudes as my companions: comparison and desperate yearning. First, I would compare my spiritual journey to theirs. Watching them post about their practice of prayer, meditation, fasting, etc., meant that they were “more saved that I” or “would receive more jewels in their heavenly crown.” Yes, I can admit the ridiculousness of this type of thinking, nevertheless, it was what I felt.  I also felt a deep and desperate yearning to reconnect with God. It was more than a desire to pray. It was more of a yearning to hear God, feel God and interact with God in a way that felt…real. I wanted to discuss with God my feelings about racism, lament, grief, JOY, love, compassion. I wanted to talk about EVERYDAY things. More, I wanted God to talk back. I needed God to talk back. I no longer wanted to feel like the words of my prayers were falling into a deep abyss, never reaching God’s spirit, and lingering in the atmosphere. I wanted to see God in the mundane (emotions, thoughts, and desires) AND in the extraordinary things of life (creation, humanity, and faith). I wanted to EXPERIENCE God!

And so, this is my invitation to you. I invite you to EXPERIENCE God with me. Come explore the ordinary and extraordinary manifestations of God! This Lenten devotional will offer you an opportunity to read, listen, reflect, AND respond.  

My hope is that at the end of our Journey Through Lent we will have EXPERIENCED God together; listening, reflecting, and seeking ways to connect with God that will challenge us and increase our faith.

Join me in A Journey Through Lent.

Amazed by God’s Grace,

Pastor Dawnn