Lent

Command. What command do you hear today? Wash your hands.  We are speaking about pandemic now. The coronavirus is all around the world and the world seems ill-prepared to address it. We find it hard to get our heads around this. I blame vaccines. And antibiotics. We live in the expectation that we are covered for everything. That we won’t catch it. But if we do, there’s a drug for that. I’m grateful that I have come this far in my life without any near-death experiences. But I am at the age where I am at peace with death. I think. I don’t need to live a long life. I don’t need anything more than what I have. But, at the same time, I think about people who are just seeing their lives and all the possibility stretching out before them, and I feel some responsibility toward them. a desire to protect them. So, whatever may come, I’ll wash my hands. I’ll try very hard to stop touching my face! I’ll be mindful of the things that pose a threat to life.

Wilderness. Where is the wilderness in your life? Something I am trying to do with this lent practice is to let my instincts guide me. To pay attention to my first reaction to the question and see where it leads me. My first reaction to this question was a vision of my desk. I have been struggling with my desk for a couple of weeks. There’s too much stuff on it. But every time I think I am going to get it cleaned up I end up getting overwhelmed, confused, distressed – because it’s not just a matter of putting things away. I think there are a lot of decisions that need to be made here. Books I need to read. Catalogs I need to search for curriculum. Letters to respond to, notes to scan for to-do items, and stuff that has been there so long it begs the question – what am I trying to do here? I. Have. A lot. Going. On. All of it is good. Some of it is critical, essential. And it’s a wilderness because I just need some time to see what it all means. I just need a little time...

February 26, 2020 Ash Wednesday – What is something that led your spiritual development? What year was it? 1999, I think. I was working at the First Presbyterian Church in Bloomsburg, PA as the Director of Christian Education. Kristen, a member of the congregation, invited me to join her and some friends in a women’s Bible study. They were meeting at her house on a Wednesday morning. I went because I wanted to encourage Kristen on her newfound spiritual path. It was a Beth Moore study called A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place. I had never heard of Beth Moore before. Within a week, we had moved the study to the church and we were going strong. I am not a Baptist. I’m not a fundamentalist. I cringed at some of the things Beth would say in the videos or wrote in her books. But the truth is, that study led me into all new spiritual territory. The study included five weekly lessons to be completed at home; the group gathered weekly to share our learning. Rhonda, our small g...