A Daily Lent

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent – March 12, 2015 Abba Poemen said, “Water is naturally soft and stone is naturally hard. But let water drip continuously on a stone and it will erode. The word of God works the same way. It is soft and our hearts are hard, but if we hear the word of God frequently, it will open our hearts to reverence.” [Bernard Bangley, By Way of the Desert , p. 148] This is one of my favorite images from the Desert tradition. I’ve carried it and returned to it for many, many years now. The saying gives me an image for the long journey that is spiritual formation. I am not instantly transformed, but am always in a process of becoming . . . becoming the person God created me to be. It is more than a story about silence. It is a saying about the heart, about the way our hearts are shaped by regularly allowing the word of God to “drip” upon it. The ancient practice of sacred reading (known as lectio divina ) suggests a slow reading of scripture that focu...

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent John 5:39 – 47 “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. “I do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” Jesus: “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that t...