Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation: Week 2
Week 2- Monday
From the primal elements you brought forth the human race. (Eucharistic Prayer C pg. 370 BCP)
There is a story I heard of a priest who miss-spoke and said “primal elephants” instead of “primal elements.” This slip of the tongue delights me. I love the image it brings to my mind of giant dancing elephants somehow being part of the origins of humanity. It’s kind of who we are. We are as graceful as a dance but we crash into things like an elephant. Lent definitely joins those two parts of humanity. We recognize our blessedness as beloved children of God; at the same time we are more than aware of our tendency to smash things. With every mess I make I need to sweep it up and remember that I CAN dance, even if the steps are a bit elephantine. So today, keep dancing, even if you bump into the table in the process. You’ll get better with time and practice.
What kind of dance are you practicing? Are there any messes you need to sweep up and make right?
Week 2- Tuesday
And blessed us with memory, reason, and skill. You made us the rulers of creation. (Eucharistic Prayer C pg. 370 BCP)
I’ve learned a lot about memory in the past several years. Did you know there are two kinds? Short term memory, which helps us remember all those little things we need in order to do our daily tasks, and long term memory, which stores all those things we may need in the future. Both types are important to our ability to function. Memory is a gift, even those painful memories that we would sometimes like to eliminate are a gift. Memory makes us who we are, teaches us, guides us, and can give us the joy of accomplishment and love long after the moment is past or the person has died. Memory allows us to reason. Memory is essential to learning and developing. Memory helps us to connect our past and the present. Today is St. Patrick’s Day, a day when we remember the wisdom, love, and courage of Patrick, who returned to those who had enslaved him to offer them what was most precious to him, a relationship with God in Christ. Patrick and all those who have loved God still live in our memory and in the presence of God.
Remember someone who has drawn you closer to Jesus, and give thanks for their presence in your life.
Week 2- Wednesday
But we turned against you, and betrayed your trust; and we turned against one another. (Eucharistic Prayer C pg. 370 BCP)
Betrayal is one of the most devastating actions one can experience. Betrayal destroys trust. For some, repeated betrayals extinguish even the ability to trust another person. Treachery leaves a relationship in ashes. Throughout the Hebrew Bible, the people of God abandon the worship of God for whatever enticing activity comes their way. Sometimes it’s fear and threat that causes their wandering, sometimes the allure of glitz and fame. I’m no different. I wander away from the presence of God in Christ, I betray that relationship of love and grace. I’m no better with my other relationships. It’s shockingly easy for me to drift away into my own world. I am more than grateful for the mercy of God, and the forgiving nature of those around me.
How have you wandered away from your relationship with God and others? How will you find your way back?
Week 2- Thursday
Have mercy, Lord, for we are sinners in your sight. (Eucharistic Prayer C pg. 370 BCP)
My nephew recently posted picture of a sign on Facebook, it read “Karma Café –Welcome to the Karma Café. Please be seated. There are no menus; you will be served what you deserve.” I find that terrifying. I’m all too aware of my shortcomings and failings to want to get what I deserve. Actually, it’s fairly easy to focus on our failings; we can make a list that stretches back as long as we can remember. Failings, missteps, bad decisions, times when I’ve been mean, or nasty, or downright sinful are easy for me to call up. It’s the times of mercy that I need to work at remembering. I need to bring to mind those times when I have been forgiven, and those times when I have forgiven others. Recalling those moments when my failings did not bring punishment but a gracious and merciful response both from God and from others is far more helpful than to dwell on my inevitable shortcoming. Perhaps we can come up with a new sign “Mercy Café- Welcome to the Mercy Café. Please be seated. There are no menus; you will be served all that you need.” I think I’ll go in a have a bite.
What is God serving you today at the “Mercy Café”?
Week 2- Friday
Again and again, you called us to return. (Eucharistic Prayer C pg. 370 BCP)
Whenever I read large portions of the Hebrew Bible I’m repeatedly stuck by a reoccurring them. The people of God mess up and God rescues them. Joseph’s brothers betray him, but he ends up as God’s instrument to save them from starvation. The Israelites become slaves in Egypt, but God frees them. The people of Judah mess up and lose their land, but God brings them back from exile in Babylon. We have repeated stories of God’s people rejecting God and worshipping some other deity, so God sends a prophet or two to turn them around. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Malachi, John the Baptist, the list seems endless. In fact the list goes on long after the Biblical story ends: St. Dominic, or Bertolome de La Casas, or William Willberforce, or all those in our day and time who call us to take another look at who we are and how we are living. They echo God’s call to us. They call us to return to living in the light of God’s love for us, for those around us, and for the world we live in. I’ve so grateful for God’s persistence, that calls me again, and again, and again, and again. The constancy of God’s never ending call keeps me going, no matter how many times I wander off.
Where is God calling you?
Week 2- Saturday
Through prophets and sages you revealed your righteous Law. (Eucharistic Prayer C pg. 370 BCP)
As I’m writing this my Facebook feed is filled with postings on the death of Pete Seeger. He was, for my generation, a prophet in song and action. Prophets lead difficult lives. They challenge the status quo, and demand that we take a closer look at how we lead our lives. Prophets are the ones who point out that the ship we are riding in is headed for a waterfall. The current of culture and expectations runs swiftly, and it’s difficult to find a way to move out of the mainstream. The prophets are those who can help us to see the danger. They are the ones who can lend us a hand as we seek to paddle to a different shore. Prophets are often loud and uncomfortable people, yet their shouts can bring us out of our stupor and back to the life God offers us. Thank God for the prophets, especially the ones who sing.
Who has called you out of the mainstream to a different shore?
Listen to Pete Seeger here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9eDU045u_E
Week 2- Sunday
And in the fullness of time you sent your only Son, born of a woman, to
fulfill your Law, to open for us the way of freedom and peace. (Eucharistic Prayer C pg. 370 BCP)
I know a couple of people who have walked the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. It is the medieval pilgrimage path to the Cathedral of St. James on the northwest coast of Spain. Each of them has come back changed. The process of walking across the long miles, of sharing the trek with other pilgrims and gathering with them at the simple accommodations each evening altered them. A pilgrimage is like that. It is different than a vacation or a business trip. Pilgrimage, like Lent, seeks to strip away the “extras” from your life in order to give you time and space to consider the essentials. Both are times to take a step back and walk a new path, to try out a new way of being, a time to find the way of freedom and peace that we are offered in Christ. What is your pilgrim path this Lent?
Back to list
From the primal elements you brought forth the human race. (Eucharistic Prayer C pg. 370 BCP)
There is a story I heard of a priest who miss-spoke and said “primal elephants” instead of “primal elements.” This slip of the tongue delights me. I love the image it brings to my mind of giant dancing elephants somehow being part of the origins of humanity. It’s kind of who we are. We are as graceful as a dance but we crash into things like an elephant. Lent definitely joins those two parts of humanity. We recognize our blessedness as beloved children of God; at the same time we are more than aware of our tendency to smash things. With every mess I make I need to sweep it up and remember that I CAN dance, even if the steps are a bit elephantine. So today, keep dancing, even if you bump into the table in the process. You’ll get better with time and practice.
What kind of dance are you practicing? Are there any messes you need to sweep up and make right?
Week 2- Tuesday
And blessed us with memory, reason, and skill. You made us the rulers of creation. (Eucharistic Prayer C pg. 370 BCP)
I’ve learned a lot about memory in the past several years. Did you know there are two kinds? Short term memory, which helps us remember all those little things we need in order to do our daily tasks, and long term memory, which stores all those things we may need in the future. Both types are important to our ability to function. Memory is a gift, even those painful memories that we would sometimes like to eliminate are a gift. Memory makes us who we are, teaches us, guides us, and can give us the joy of accomplishment and love long after the moment is past or the person has died. Memory allows us to reason. Memory is essential to learning and developing. Memory helps us to connect our past and the present. Today is St. Patrick’s Day, a day when we remember the wisdom, love, and courage of Patrick, who returned to those who had enslaved him to offer them what was most precious to him, a relationship with God in Christ. Patrick and all those who have loved God still live in our memory and in the presence of God.
Remember someone who has drawn you closer to Jesus, and give thanks for their presence in your life.
Week 2- Wednesday
But we turned against you, and betrayed your trust; and we turned against one another. (Eucharistic Prayer C pg. 370 BCP)
Betrayal is one of the most devastating actions one can experience. Betrayal destroys trust. For some, repeated betrayals extinguish even the ability to trust another person. Treachery leaves a relationship in ashes. Throughout the Hebrew Bible, the people of God abandon the worship of God for whatever enticing activity comes their way. Sometimes it’s fear and threat that causes their wandering, sometimes the allure of glitz and fame. I’m no different. I wander away from the presence of God in Christ, I betray that relationship of love and grace. I’m no better with my other relationships. It’s shockingly easy for me to drift away into my own world. I am more than grateful for the mercy of God, and the forgiving nature of those around me.
How have you wandered away from your relationship with God and others? How will you find your way back?
Week 2- Thursday
Have mercy, Lord, for we are sinners in your sight. (Eucharistic Prayer C pg. 370 BCP)
My nephew recently posted picture of a sign on Facebook, it read “Karma Café –Welcome to the Karma Café. Please be seated. There are no menus; you will be served what you deserve.” I find that terrifying. I’m all too aware of my shortcomings and failings to want to get what I deserve. Actually, it’s fairly easy to focus on our failings; we can make a list that stretches back as long as we can remember. Failings, missteps, bad decisions, times when I’ve been mean, or nasty, or downright sinful are easy for me to call up. It’s the times of mercy that I need to work at remembering. I need to bring to mind those times when I have been forgiven, and those times when I have forgiven others. Recalling those moments when my failings did not bring punishment but a gracious and merciful response both from God and from others is far more helpful than to dwell on my inevitable shortcoming. Perhaps we can come up with a new sign “Mercy Café- Welcome to the Mercy Café. Please be seated. There are no menus; you will be served all that you need.” I think I’ll go in a have a bite.
What is God serving you today at the “Mercy Café”?
Week 2- Friday
Again and again, you called us to return. (Eucharistic Prayer C pg. 370 BCP)
Whenever I read large portions of the Hebrew Bible I’m repeatedly stuck by a reoccurring them. The people of God mess up and God rescues them. Joseph’s brothers betray him, but he ends up as God’s instrument to save them from starvation. The Israelites become slaves in Egypt, but God frees them. The people of Judah mess up and lose their land, but God brings them back from exile in Babylon. We have repeated stories of God’s people rejecting God and worshipping some other deity, so God sends a prophet or two to turn them around. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Malachi, John the Baptist, the list seems endless. In fact the list goes on long after the Biblical story ends: St. Dominic, or Bertolome de La Casas, or William Willberforce, or all those in our day and time who call us to take another look at who we are and how we are living. They echo God’s call to us. They call us to return to living in the light of God’s love for us, for those around us, and for the world we live in. I’ve so grateful for God’s persistence, that calls me again, and again, and again, and again. The constancy of God’s never ending call keeps me going, no matter how many times I wander off.
Where is God calling you?
Week 2- Saturday
Through prophets and sages you revealed your righteous Law. (Eucharistic Prayer C pg. 370 BCP)
As I’m writing this my Facebook feed is filled with postings on the death of Pete Seeger. He was, for my generation, a prophet in song and action. Prophets lead difficult lives. They challenge the status quo, and demand that we take a closer look at how we lead our lives. Prophets are the ones who point out that the ship we are riding in is headed for a waterfall. The current of culture and expectations runs swiftly, and it’s difficult to find a way to move out of the mainstream. The prophets are those who can help us to see the danger. They are the ones who can lend us a hand as we seek to paddle to a different shore. Prophets are often loud and uncomfortable people, yet their shouts can bring us out of our stupor and back to the life God offers us. Thank God for the prophets, especially the ones who sing.
Who has called you out of the mainstream to a different shore?
Listen to Pete Seeger here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9eDU045u_E
Week 2- Sunday
And in the fullness of time you sent your only Son, born of a woman, to
fulfill your Law, to open for us the way of freedom and peace. (Eucharistic Prayer C pg. 370 BCP)
I know a couple of people who have walked the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. It is the medieval pilgrimage path to the Cathedral of St. James on the northwest coast of Spain. Each of them has come back changed. The process of walking across the long miles, of sharing the trek with other pilgrims and gathering with them at the simple accommodations each evening altered them. A pilgrimage is like that. It is different than a vacation or a business trip. Pilgrimage, like Lent, seeks to strip away the “extras” from your life in order to give you time and space to consider the essentials. Both are times to take a step back and walk a new path, to try out a new way of being, a time to find the way of freedom and peace that we are offered in Christ. What is your pilgrim path this Lent?
Back to list