Remember Lent when you were a kid? My first lesson was that it was about giving up something, foregoing, denying, in more sophisticated terms, penance. "I'll give up candy." Or was it donuts or listening to Westerns on the radio? One of my grade school classmates thought of giving up homework, but that didn't fly at my house.
We've so baked in the giving-up notion of Lent that in some quarters, like the French Quarter in New Orleans, we exuberantly celebrate Mardi Gras, the Fat Tuesday before Lent. Excess before denial. A stroll down Bourbon Street during this period is not for the faint of heart.
A more sober—literally and figuratively—understanding of Lent comes arises from the ashes, which when I was growing up seemed like a strange ritual performed by other people. "Why do those people have dirty faces, mommy?" Ashes have since become more ecumenical and indicative of Lent's more fundamental function as a beginning. The ashes are from last year's palms, things that died and were burned. We are asked to begin again, to desire to begin again.
Lectio Divina Each Week
Each week over this Lenten period I will bid you to follow the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, a divine reading. Lectio Divina asks us to listen to a text with the "ear of the heart." What one word or phrase speaks to you, today in your current situation.
This week we begin with a passage from Second Corinthians: this from Eugene Peterson, The Message:
(6:1) Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don't squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us. (6:11-13) Dear, dear Corinthians, I can't tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide open spacious life. We didn't fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives are not small, but you are living them in a small way. I am speaking as plainly as I can with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively.
Try using the text as the object for Lectio Divina, a slow contemplative way of praying, as this introduction from St. Andrew's Abbey in Valyermo explains.
First, read or listen to the verse (lectio). Ask whether there is a word of phrase that jumps out at you, grabs your attention.
Second, reflect on it (meditatio). Ruminate on the passage a bit. What is God saying to you?
Third, respond (oratio). Out loud is okay; so, too, is journaling or prayer. If you are so moved, share your thoughts in the Comment section below.
Fourth, rest (contemplatio). Sit quietly for a few minutes, just letting your thoughts and meditation sink in.
See how that works. Let me know in the "Comments" section below.
In the following weeks, I will post passages that follow the familiar themes that follow Jesus' ministry and the path to Jerusalem and the cross. I've relied on a number of sources, including:
- The Presbyterian Mission Agency lectionary
- Richard Rohr's Wondrous Encounters: Scripture for Lent.
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Join us on Friday morning at 8 Pacific time for silent Centering Prayer. If you need the internet URL, email me at charlestaylorkerchner@gmail.com We are also associated with the Meditation Chapel, a worldwide network of that offers over 100 online meditation opportunities a week. I can help you register, if you wish.
Photo: CTK, Bali, 2008