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| Saturday, February 16, 2008 |
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New Life Starts Here: Got Any of These Signs of Lent?
By webmaster @ 7:00 AM :: 206 Views ::
0 Comments :: Nina Frost
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Each year, this season called Lent revisits the story of Jesus as he moves toward the cross and beyond it. How are we asked to walk this same journey in our own lives? How are our hearts urged toward conversions that are rooted in the personal, practical concerns we face daily?
If Easter is in part about new life, new surprising, where-you-least-expect-it life, then one place to look for our own "signs of Lent" are in the things that are ending... the places our lives are making room for something new. Here's a by no means complete checklist of places the Lenten invitation can be lurking:
Dryness, spiritual or otherwise—when you lose your "springs of living water." When that which used to feed you no longer does.
Restlessness, when you have outgrown something, and experience a longing, yearning or wrestling.
Fear, when you sense God is asking you to come out of hiding.
Ambivalence, when you are avoiding that which you most desire.
Tensions, when you notice a tension in your life between the old and the new, between something that is trying to be born and something that has to die.
Crossroads, when you find yourself at a crucial, threshold place.
Lent asks us: What is it that has to die? That has to be re-claimed? Re-discovered? Re-directed? Released?
What do you need to leave behind, be emptied of, recognize as false? Is God calling you to some form of new life? One of my favorite authors, Martin Smith, formerly a monk, described God as the source of "incessant newness and risky vitality." Amen! Think of where these words beckon you; note their playful quality. And don't worry if nothing seems new just yet, if it's all an annoying, depressing slog. That is also weirdly and wonderfully Lenten, as T.S. Eliot reminds us:
In order to arrive there,
To arrive where you are, to get from where you are not,
You must go by a way wherein there is no ecstasy.
In order to arrive at what you do not know
You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.
In order to arrive at what you are not
You much go through the way in which you are not."
- T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets
Blessings on your journey into all that you are not.... |
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Welcome to MarbleTalks, a weblog published by the ministers and staff of Marble Collegiate Church. If you're unfamiliar with blogs, this short primer will help get you up to speed.
What is a Blog?
MarbleTalks provides a forum for each of our ministers and various staff members to share their thoughts, questions, and experiences with our faith community. Contributors to the blog will use a wide variety of sources for inspiration, and may share those sources when possible. Blogs are built around the active participation of their readers, and will commonly encourage you to take action in your life and the world around you.
Publishing Schedule:
| Sun. |
Dr. Caliandro |
| Mon. |
Sister Carol Perry |
| Tues. |
Dr. Lutz |
| Wed. |
Rev. Funderburke |
| Thur. |
Rev. Jordan |
| Fri. |
Rev. Lewicki |
| Sat. |
Nina Frost |
| Sat. |
Dr. Killinger |
Reading Our Blog:
New articles will go up every day, and we hope you'll check in regularly. The seven most recent posts are displayed on this main page. Each article contains a short description and a link to read the full text. If you'd like to go back and read previous entries you missed, click on the "Categories" link at the top of the page and then select the author you're interested in. We don't delete old articles, so you'll be able to come back anytime and re-read the ones that speak to you in significant ways.
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