A Daily Lent

Listening As Openness and Willingness Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent – March 26, 2020 Benedict of Nursia wrote a guide for persons who sought to live in community out of a common desire to orient life around God. That guide is called The Rule of Benedict. And the “vows” we have explored this week are all integral to Benedictine spirituality. The Benedictine vow of stability means that we stand still and attend to who we are in this moment. We intentionally nourish the soul, we tend to the fires of the inner life. We do not move at such a frantic pace that we cease to know ourselves. Be still. The vow of continual conversion means that we are always journeying on. God is continually forming us, shaping us as the people God created us to be. We continue to journey, to explore, and to make new discoveries, both in the outer world and in the our own inner world. We are still moving. The vow of obedience , as Esther de Waal describes it below, simply asks us to listen . . ....

Hearing All the Instruments Monday of the Third Week of Lent – March 16, 2020 Much has been written about the echo chamber in which persons in the 21st century live. We listen to news channels that reinforce our world view, keep company with persons who confirm our vision of the world, and worship in places in which we are most comfortable. We hear voices similar to our own and we receive the stimuli comfortable for us. To be outside our chosen comfort zone can leave us highly disconcerted and even pained. When we filter the people and stimuli that reach us (by either ignoring them or denying them), we limit our capacity to love. Jesus said it is no virtue to love those who love you. Love is known by its regard for the other, for the stranger, for the outsider. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said the defining mark of the Christian is love for the enemy. 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies a...

A Loving Surrender Tuesday of the First Week of Lent – March 3, 2020 I am one of those persons described by Henri Nouwen who cringes at the word “obedience.” I can ascribe that to experiences earlier in life which were painful, in which I was expected to be blindly obedient to a way not my own. Like those Nouwen describes below, the word conjures up negative connotations for me. Yet, I realize that when I love and trust someone, I am willing to surrender, submit, and even be obedient to the beloved one. It is this sense of obedience St. Benedict leans into when he offers a Rule of Life as a guide for living together in monastic community. Within community, not everyone can be in charge. You cannot get your own way all the time and form a healthy community. So Benedict addresses vows of obedience made in the monastery. And the beginning of obedience, he says, is listening. Listen carefully, my child, to my instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is advi...

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent Daily Reading: Matthew 6:7 – 15 Focus Passage: And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matt. 6:7 – 8) How have we turned prayer sideways? Depending on the translation you read, Jesus says do not babble, don’t use vain repetition, or don’t heap up empty phrases when you pray. The picture is almost comical, as if someone learning to pray observed someone else praying, then merely repeated that person’s language, rhythm, posture, and voice inflection. As a pastor, I learned years ago how to use vocabulary, tone, and volume to make my public prayers sound like they were connecting with God. That they were generally hollow mattered less to me than that people thought I was offering a meaningful prayer. I hope God laughs about those days more than weeps. While prayer is more caught than ...