little doorways into the presence of God
Dear First Pres SLO Family,
Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus the Messiah, the one who invites us to this season of reflection and repentance as we prepare our hearts for Easter.
Lent continues… We all have busy lives—our days and weeks are filled with tasks and meetings and appointments, some are pleasant, and others not so much. The kind of discipline that Lent calls us to is difficult. There’s hardly time to do all the things we’re supposed to be doing, let alone setting aside time for introspection.
This year Lent has been especially challenging for me. After the time away for heart surgery and recovery, I start most days feeling like I’m hopelessly behind in my work, like I’ll never catch up.
Then God finds a way to get ahold of me.
Sometimes it’s a memory that stops me short. Other times I see something or hear something that pierces my heart and moves me to unexpected tears. Just this week it was a song that brought back a flood of memories of my father.
In all of those there is a twinge of pain that I wish would go away. Who has time for that kind of interruption? Certainly not me, unless… What if those interruptions are the point?
Henri Nouwen writes about the usefulness of those pains and twinges in his Lent reader, “Show Me The Way.” He writes:
“The mystery of God's love is not that he takes our pains away, but that he first wants to share them with us. Out of this divine solidarity comes new life.”
So let me get this straight. God enters my pain along with me? He wants to share that pain with me? Honestly, I’ve never really thought about it that way. But what if it’s true?
What if God being willing to sit with me in my broken places leads me into a deeper connection with him, a deeper sense of divine solidarity, as Nouwen puts it. What if those cracked and dented parts of my life aren’t interruptions at all, but little doorways into the presence of God?
Isn’t that beautiful?
Lent is a season where we think about these things. In these last few days before Holy Week, let me invite you to listen for God’s voice, and to sense God’s presence in the good places, and also in the places where you might be hurting, or struggling, or grieving. These next few weeks are our time to remember all that Jesus did and suffered for us. Lean into those memories, alongside the ones that might be causing you pain.
We’re almost there, but not just yet.
Blessings to you,
Pastor John