February 20

Beloved of Good Shepherd Church,

Grace to you and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!

What in you or about you needs to be healed? Are you judgmental? I certainly can be. Do you need to pause before you speak, so that you don’t come off as angry, selfish, and reactive? I do. Is your heart heavy with sorrow such that it sometimes prevents you from doing things that you want to do? I can identify with that. Do you sometimes take a joke or an indulgence too far? Who doesn’t? Do you ever stay up at night long past when everyone else has gone to sleep consumed with worry? Worry gets a lot of rent free space in my head. Has outrage at current events become like a part-time job for you of late? I am often dismayed by what I read in the headlines. How’s that all going for you? What part of your inner self needs to be healed so that you can live the gift of your life more fully in the groove of love; love for God and all your neighbors?

Easter is the great healing event of our faith. The resurrection of Jesus marks the defeat of the power of death and the utter end of the illusion of our separation from God. Easter is God’s way of saying, “You are mine, and I am yours. Nothing can separate you from my love. Live in my love.” Lent, which begins in a couple of weeks, is the 40 day pathway to Easter. 

During Lent we prepare for the healing celebration of Easter by identifying what needs to be healed. During Lent one takes a little bit more care than usual with that part of one’s inner self that needs to be healed. Whether it is your anger, your sorrow, your selfishness, your greed, your jealousy, your over-attention to material things, or your fear that needs to be healed during Lent, you are invited to lift the broken part of you up to God. 

Here’s an example: during Lent one might take a break or otherwise lessen one’s time on the internet and/or social media in order to lessen one’s preoccupation with material desires. 

Here’s another example: during Lent one might take up a practice of silent prayer in order to cultivate a capacity for spending time with God who dwells within us all. 

One more example: during Lent one might commit to pausing before one speaks in anger or fires off an email or text message in haste out of frustration. 

The point of a Lenten practice is to dismantle that which lies between oneself and God. What’s getting in the way of your love relationship with God? What needs to be healed?

Lent begins on Wednesday, March 5th. Come join us for Ash Wednesday services on that day and we’ll start the journey to Easter together by offering to God that which needs to be healed. Joining us for our Silent Retreat on Saturday, March 8th is also a great way to begin Lent in a healing way.

Remember this always - God loves you, and I love you too!

Love is all,

Hendree+