Five Simple Suggestions for a Holy (and Wholly Productive) Lent

Lent is here, and if you have not already begun a Lenten Discipline, you might feel a little anxious.  The countdown to Easter has begun - what can be done to make the best use of this time of preparation?  Especially if you feel you are already behind in this effort!

Lent does not have to completely alter your normal schedule to be powerful and help you to feel changed in a really beneficial way.  Here are five things you can add to your life that will only take a few minutes, but may just alter your perspective. (And you do not need to add all five things - pick what works for you!)

1.  Do one nice thing each day.  This could mean offering a smile to someone you pass on the street, letting a car into traffic ahead of you, or paying for the coffee of the person behind you at the drive through. Savor a small moment of pleasure in offering this tiny gift.  
(This is good for your heart.)

2.  Make note of two things you are grateful for each day.  As you wake up in the morning, even before you get out of bed, think of a gratitude.  Repeat the process as you lay your head down on your pillow at night.  Starting and ending each day on a positive note is bound to improve your outlook.  
(This is good for your soul.)

3.  Read three pages of a book.  Okay - you might read a lot every day, but for some of us, making our way through that book might be taking far too long as we are dragged away to other things.  Make that time to read just three pages of whatever you want (this does not have to be a Lenten devotional!) and enjoy making progress.  
(This is good for your mind.)

4.  Drink four glasses of water each day.  Again, some of you are far ahead on this - others need a little reminder to stop, get up and move around, re-hydrate, stretch a little, and maybe take a moment to be grateful for being alive today.   (This is good for your body.)

5.  Take five minutes to talk to God - no interruptions allowed.  Walk away from the phone or computer (or the family) and just be quiet with God.  You might write out a note, or pray silently, or doodle as you think, or just stare into space.  Use this time for you and God to be together.  This is time well invested in your most important relationship.  
(This is good for your spirit.)

The days we count as we approach Easter will go by very quickly.  You owe it to yourself to make the most of them.  It doesn't require a special book, or a retreat - just you and God.  You have the time and the tools already, and these Lenten practices might even last beyond the forty days.

"WHAT IN YOUR FAITH INSPIRES PEACE AND HOPE?" A Christian perspective

shared by Rev. Charles Edward, OLW, Deacon

"WHAT IN YOUR FAITH INSPIRES PEACE AND HOPE?"

This is a very loaded question. Just as we are all connected by our humanity and our one breath, so too are we all connected.  All humanity longs for something. Be it affirmation, acceptance,  love and a desire to be made whole.

The vehicle that  inspires me the most on this journey is that of prayer and community.  To some it may sound a little bit odd that I am not focusing of Jesus.  But the true essence of Christianity  is to be in relationship with the Infinite / God.  Pure Love.

To me that is revealed in the gift of His Son.  Fully human and full divine.  In the humanity of Jesus, we see that he is always longing for a relationship with His Father.  Relationship is being in conversation with one and other which less to community.  That is  what prayer is.  The examples of those individuals in Scripture hold for my a sign for a deeper relationship with the Infinite.

This longing is not self contained.  It is contagious.   It moves me to a wide way of living out my humanity.  The is why community is so important.

Jesus NEVER JUDGED ANYONE.  He is the perfect reflection of PURE LOVE which we all long for.  That realty gives me a Peace that this culture cannot give me.

We all live life in the ordinary.  The very fact that we are here shows that we are all on a journey but have  various paths. One is not above the other. Just a different observation leading to living "life to the fullest".  Nothing more nothing less.

That  is the core of the teaching of Jesus.   "Love the Lord your  God and your neighbor as yourself." Culture tells us that we are our own person. But in reality we are communal people. 

Community to me is where my hope lies.  It is here that hope is created.  Being able to see the diversity in each of us.  Thank God that he did not have a cookies cutter.  Our lives would be very boring.   But the key question that I pose is this  " Are we willing to be really be open to that reality?"  It's taking a risk of either being accepted or rejected. 

So are you and I willing to take that risk?   I say "YES" that's the reason for our being here. 

{On Jan 24th, Brother Charles Edward was a participant in an Interfaith Forum, held at St. Paul's 

Church (see picture above).  These are some of  his thoughts around the topic "What in your faith 

inspires peace and hope?", told from a Christian perspective}

It's What's Inside That Counts (or do you put leaven in your bread?)

The lesson shared in the Sunday school classrooms this morning will be the Parable of the Leaven.  In reflecting on many different news stories and media campaigns this week, it seemed the Holy Spirit was choosing for me as I prepared for the presentation to the class this morning, as well as thought about Martin Luther King Day (or in some places Civil Rights Day) tomorrow.

In the parable, the woman mixes leaven into the flour, and the bread rises.  Simple really, yet there is so much "bubbling" under the surface.

In the current political race, we are told repeatedly, by all sides, that we need to look carefully and see the true nature of the candidates, with every individual convinced they are the best one for the job.  We need to look at what is inside.

This past week, the Anglican Communion suspended the Episcopal Church from full privileges and voting rights due to the work of the Episcopal Church to allow same sex unions in church, as well as other decisions.  What is inside all of this?  Are we to continue to love all and accept all as Jesus taught (the opinion of the Episcopal leadership) or love all people, but become more reserved in our open acceptance (as statements from the Anglican leadership suggest).  With the record the Episcopal Church has on many civil rights issues, it seems very unlikely that any steps will go back.  This leads to many questions, including what is inside each of us?  If we say that we are to love one another, how do we respond to this new situation?

Tomorrow, we will recognize Civil Rights Day.  We will think about and honor so many who have tried to make us focus on something that is really simple - it is what is inside that counts.  Not the color of our skin, where we live, how much money we make, what political party we may call our own, or what church we worship in - but what is inside each of us.

So, whether you will mix three measure of flour with leaven or not, you have a chance today to wonder about how God works inside you.  I wonder, what will you find?  I suspect you will like some parts of yourself more than others - as that is the nature of humans.  But if you remember the teachings we share in our church, you will know that God loves and accepts you for you, and asks us to do the same for others.  That can be very difficult when we disagree, but hopefully remembering this will allow us to share in peaceful disagreements, and set an example of demonstrating kindness, even to those who do not ask for it, in all areas of our lives.

It is indeed what is inside that makes all of the difference.

Image of yeast bubbling over