A Holy Walk
I don’t exactly remember the quotation (nor exactly who said/wrote it) but it went something like “We are surrounded by the holy and the sacred in much the same way a fish is surrounded by the water it swims in. It holds us up, gives us the medium of life we move through, and literally gives us life as we swim in it and it swims through us.. all the while going largely unnoticed by the fish/by us.”
This, of course, being one of the special gifts the season of Lent offers to us. In whatever way you choose to observe the time/journey, the aim is mostly the same - be that a more intentional practice of attending Sunday/Holy Week services.. taking time to come to Mid-week soup & prayer.. “giving something up” and using the moments of wanting as an extra time for remembering God.. or “taking something on” in gratitude or service as renewal of your faith journey. The goal of each being simply to take a second of deliberate effort to see and recognize that holiness and grace as it swirls around us to nurture and shape, heal and inspire our lives.
It is to be a season where we stop (or at least slow down a bit) to think about who we are as God has created us.. to give thanks for all the ways our lives our infused with God’s care (even though we seldom notice it in the moment).. and strive to relearn to see the moments of beauty and hope that are given to us in the midst of the chaos of life.
And indeed.. in as much as it is likely that you have most often heard Lent talked about as a time of “confession & repentance”, I kind of wonder whether one of the most primary forms of “turning around” (the literal meaning of the word “repent”) doesn’t begin in giving up all our running around blindly (usually away from God) and in re-awakening ourselves to the sacred to suddenly find ourselves turning back TO GOD. It is, I think maybe, the 1st step!?!
In whatever you do during these weeks ahead, may you be given glimpses of the ways God always has held.. always does hold.. always will hold your heart in His heart. May you be given again the eyes of a child that are so ready to see wonder and mystery in all things. And may you once more come to know that you are surrounded by God – God’s love.. God’s grace.. & God’s ever moving Spirit that animates everything and makes all things possible. And may that touch you and heal you in all those ways we all need to be healed.
Blessed Journey to you!
Pastor Stewart – March 21/19
