14th Day of Lent

Much in the spiritual life depends on where we place our attention and what we allow to take up space in our minds. One ought never to underestimate our horrible external and internal resistance to the contemplative option. By contemplative option I mean the choice to respond contemplatively and prayerfully to ourselves and the world. The contemplative option awakens the power of Christ in us that allows us to be reconciled and to enter into right relationship with creation and one another – a relationship of gentleness, love and forgiveness.

Contemplation is a choice about what we have on our minds. Sometimes contemplation is a choice to step back, wait and to tolerate the withdrawal of not satisfying every appetite and desire. The contemplative option may be a choice to face our own insatiability and discern what truly satisfies from what leaves us numb, jittery and still hungry. There is no getting around it. The contemplative life is a sacrifice. Our yes to God will likely mean a no to something else.

From Making Haqqodesh by Loretta Ross
Source Inward/Outward http://www.inwardoutward.org/

Isaiah 40 (New International Version)
1 Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD ;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
6 A voice says, "Cry out."
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
"All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever."
9 You who bring good tidings to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
"Here is your God!"
10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
and his arm rules for him.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has understood the mind of the LORD,
or instructed him as his counselor?
14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge
or showed him the path of understanding?
15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;
he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;
they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing.
18 To whom, then, will you compare God?
What image will you compare him to?
19 As for an idol, a craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and fashions silver chains for it.
20 A man too poor to present such an offering
selects wood that will not rot.
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not topple.
21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
25 "To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

(Please add an entry to this blog to share any thoughts or reflections about today’s Lenten devotion.)

13th Day of Lent

Jesus then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this…

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”
[Mark 8: 31-36, selected]

Jesus calls those who would come after him to deny the self. He is not demanding that we put to death our thoughts and desires and all the things about us that make us unique, or that we renounce the wonder and beauty of creation. He is calling us to deny our self-centeredness and need to be in control, and instead to center our selves in God, who is infinite power and energy and for whom we were created. We find that on our own we have very little power to truly change. We may change our actions at times with self-control and willpower, but consenting to God’s will for us, rather than demanding our own way, causes us to be changed from the inside out. As we empty ourselves of our own strategies for success and comfort, we feel our deep hunger for what is real and life-giving, and God has space to fill us with far greater power, goodness, and satisfaction—the kind that grows, and lasts.




"When I first took this picture many years ago, I saw the leaf (and myself) as needing to "hang on"...just keep trying, just keep working at the things that were bothering me, or circumstances that were struggles and painful--just keep trusting and trying and hanging on. Now I look at this same photo years later and wonder why that leaf doesn't just "let go"...let go of the struggles to keep things going, let go of the status quo, let go of the need to control or fix the things that make me uncomfortable and afraid. Letting go is such a relief--relief from trying to control my life, relief that there is Someone who loves me and who will care for me as I fall. Amazingly, there is peace in the free--fall into the dependable, trustworthy arms of Jesus. Now I look at the little leaf and whisper "just let go."
(photo and comments by VJ Thurston. Used with permission)

Read Jesus’ words above slowly and listen to them as if Jesus were speaking directly to you.

Ask now for greater awareness of the places in your life where you might need to “let go” as you continue on this journey through Lent.

7th Day of Lent

During the Lenten season, followers of Jesus spend a great deal of time reflecting upon the sufferings of Jesus, beginning with His time of testing and temptation in the desert before His earthly ministry began. We have spent some time this week, also reflecting upon the role that suffering plays in the lives of those who follow Jesus and how God works to bring goodness and beauty out of the times of pain and hardship in our lives.

For today’s reflection, please take a few moments to look at the words in the box below. How do you think these words might be connected to each other? What inner responses are you experiencing as you read the words?




The words in the box are key words found in two New Testament passages (found below) that speak on the topic of suffering and tribulation and how those times in the lives of believers can be times of learning and growth…enabling and enlarging us to become more and more like Jesus.
At this time, you are invited to read and meditate on these scriptures and if you are willing and able…to pray the prayer of surrender below.

Hebrews 12:10-12 (New International Version)
Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.

Romans 5:3-5 (New American Standard Bible)
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.


Prayer for this moment:
Lord, have your way in me.


Please add an entry to this blog to share any thoughts or reflections about today’s Lenten devotion.

6th Day of Lent

In our services yesterday, we took some time to reflect together upon the mighty and unrelenting geologic forces that contribute to the formation of this stunning lake, Lake Moraine, in the Canadian Rockies.



Often it is the wild, uncertain, and often cataclysmic seasons in our lives that lead to the creation of new and beautiful, spacious places. However, the process of creation can be ugly, grueling and difficult to withstand.

Are there places in your life that are undergoing this kind of upheaval and grinding change?

If so, may the Lord bless you, keep you, and sustain you as you wait for new life and beauty to emerge.

It is in these times of upheaval that we can draw strength and encouragement from Jesus and the way that he surrendered through times of suffering and pain because he saw ahead to the beauty that would be revealed in the creation of his kingdom – a kingdom made up of His dearly loved children, redeemed by his suffering and death. The following passage, from the book of Isaiah, provides a window into the process of suffering turning to glory, beauty coming from ashes, and gladness from mourning as lived out in the life of Jesus.


Isaiah 53:1-12 (New International Version)
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities 
and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, [because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.


Please add an entry to this blog to share any thoughts or reflections about today’s Lenten devotion.