Friday, March 14, 2008
From AscensionNYC
Friday in the Fifth Week of Lent
by Carol Conway (from the 1998 Ascension Lenten Devotions)
Psalm 18:1-7
Jeremiah 20:7-13
John 10:31-42
"I love thee, O Lord, my strength" (Psalm 18:1).
These are words of joy — they leap out to me, and I am smiling as I open my arms to receive them. This is God! Perfect love!
Love has always been important to me. Knowing and understanding love is a lifelong project. As a child I used to watch adults and wonder what love was. Perfect love. How I longed (and still long) to give and receive perfect love.
Of course, as I am working in my classroom, I sometimes forget about love and God, and I shoulder the burden of the impossible job of teaching alone. In my distress, I don't call upon the Lord.
As I read Jeremiah, I wish I had lived in "Bible times," when God spoke to people. I want God to speak to me the way he spoke to the prophets. But of course, he does; and when I take the time to listen, I hear him.
That is what I love about Lent — the meditative inner nature of this season puts quiet spaces between all of my activities that sometimes overwhelm and consume my dialogue with God. Lent's quiet spaces create the loveliness of Lent — hearing the voice of God.
Psalm 18:1-7
Jeremiah 20:7-13
John 10:31-42
"I love thee, O Lord, my strength" (Psalm 18:1).
These are words of joy — they leap out to me, and I am smiling as I open my arms to receive them. This is God! Perfect love!
Love has always been important to me. Knowing and understanding love is a lifelong project. As a child I used to watch adults and wonder what love was. Perfect love. How I longed (and still long) to give and receive perfect love.
Of course, as I am working in my classroom, I sometimes forget about love and God, and I shoulder the burden of the impossible job of teaching alone. In my distress, I don't call upon the Lord.
As I read Jeremiah, I wish I had lived in "Bible times," when God spoke to people. I want God to speak to me the way he spoke to the prophets. But of course, he does; and when I take the time to listen, I hear him.
That is what I love about Lent — the meditative inner nature of this season puts quiet spaces between all of my activities that sometimes overwhelm and consume my dialogue with God. Lent's quiet spaces create the loveliness of Lent — hearing the voice of God.
