nothing will be the same again
Dear First Pres SLO Family,
Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ, the one who invites us to join him on this slow journey to the Cross, so that the joy of Easter might be more real and thrilling for you.
During this season of Lent I'm more aware than usual of things that are broken. The invasion of Ukraine has made us witnesses to the destruction of cities and lives. Our continuing wrestling match with the COVID pandemic has revealed the places where our health is threatened, but also our weakened capacity to care for each other effectively and with unity. Closer to home, in this church we still bear the marks of past conflicts, of wounds inflicted and relationships fractured. You may have your own ready list of broken things.
It feels like we have more than our share of broken places these days.
We know we can bring these cracks and splinters to God in prayer. We're invited to pray about all things, and to do it without ceasing. Jesus even provided his disciples (and us) with a template in the Lord's Prayer—some adoration, some hope, some asking for what we need, some confession, and finally more adoration. We know we can pray about these things, and we have an outline for doing it well…but do we? And maybe the harder question is this: When we do, does it matter?
Henri Nouwen wrote this about prayer in his Lent reader, Show Me The Way:
"Now I know that it is not I who pray but the Spirit of God who prays in me. Indeed, when God's glory dwells in me, there is nothing too far away, nothing too painful, nothing too strange or too familiar that it cannot contain and renew by its touch. Every time I recognize the glory of God in me and give it space to manifest itself to me, all that is human can be brought there, and nothing will be the same again."
I love the idea that the presence of God in our prayers can "contain and renew" everything—not some things or most things, but everything. Wow. Think about what that might mean.
Our wounds can be contained and renewed.
Our disagreements can be contained and renewed.
Our failures can be contained and renewed.
Our disappointments can be contained and renewed.
Even our pasts can be contained and renewed.
As we move through this season of Lent, with its call to reflection and repentance, remember that God's invitation to bring our true selves to God in prayer—remember that it has a point. God will hold these things and renew and restore them, and "nothing will be the same again".
Blessings to you as you make your own Lenten journey this year.
Pastor John