Image: George Mendoza
Good morning, good God!
Well, in 48 hours it will be Ash Wednesday!
I want, Lord -actually I need-
for this to be a good Lent.
I need to start again, with you.
I want to be refreshed.
It's time for me to take a spiritual inventory:
to count my sins and number your countless mercies....
You offer me a season of grace, Lord,
and my heart needs what you so freely give...
I've been here before, Lord,
so many times...
Like New Year's resolutions
my Lenten promises often fade away
before the ashes are brushed from my brow...
So, I offer you my past broken Lenten vows
and pray for your strong arm to keep me faithful this year
to my prayer, my fasting and my outreach to the poor...
I offer you all the false starts of my past, Lord,
and pray you'll walk this Lenten path with me
from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday...
I offer you a lifetime of pious unkept promises
and pray you keep me modest in my pledges
that this Lent I might, at last, be faithful
- if only in a few small things...
I offer you, in advance,
whatever my Lenten failures might be, Lord,
and pray that when I stumble
your Spirit will pick me up, dust me off,
and set me back on the path marked out for me,
the path I pledged...
I offer you my ego, Lord,
and pray I take no pride in being faithful this Lent:
humble me with the strength of your grace
to sustain in me what I cannot do alone...
I offer you the 40 days ahead, Lord,
and pray you help me live and walk this season
just one day at a time...
Walk with me this Lent, Lord,
and remind me each day
that this season is first for you
and only for me that I might grow in my love for you...
And as I walk this Lenten journey with your Church, Lord,
open me to the needs of my brothers and sisters
who walk beside me, behind me and before me...
Such is my prayer this Monday morning, Lord,
and through the holy season before us...
Lent 2010
Amen
(If you checked in especially for the Monday Morning Offering, please take a moment to scroll down to the previous post for a prayer by Henri Nouwen)
Subscribe to A Concord Pastor Comments
I need this Lent to be a good Lent too- but even more, I need it to be different- it has to be, because I think that is the only way it will work for me- but I am not sure what to do- well, I have a general plan, but it is not enough and it is definitely not strong enough-
ReplyDeletethis is a very wonderful prayer, but I think for others, not for me.
I am somewhat of a clutz- physically- always tripping over something, and nothing at all-
but I am even more of a clutz, spiritually- I am constantly stumbling- then I get back up only to stumble again- and again-
I have read your post on Lent as a vacation and your other posts too-
but, I don't know how I can make this Lent work.
"Alex:" if you want your Lent to fail then you are off to a really good start with your negativity.
ReplyDeleteHoping, however, that you do want your Lent to be a time of grace, let me offer a few suggestions.
1) Pray from where you are, not from where you want to be or think you should be or wish you were. The Morning Offering acknowledges clearly the stumbling efforts of us all - you, Alex, are not at all unique in this regard. Rather, your starting place is where we are all beginning.
2) Read my most recent post, "God's about to do something in your life..." For many of us, one of the hardest things to do in Lent is to let God do the work. God's very desirous of helping you grow in faith, hope and love these 40 days and is ready to change your heart, your mind, and your attitude. Perhaps, "Alex," you need to take a vacation from thinking that it's all up to you and let God do some (even a lot) of the work.
3) Read my earlier post of Henri Nouwen's prayer, especially this paragraph:
My only real temptation is to doubt in your love, to think of myself as beyond the reach of your love, to remove myself from the healing radiance of your love. To do these things is to move into the darkness of despair.
We don't have to wait until Easter for the healing radiance of the Light of Christ to shine on us. Nor is Lent meant to be a self-imposed valley of darkness! Christ is risen, "Alex," and wants to walk through Lent with you. Take his hand and he'll lead and guide you.
Alex- you can do this, but you have to believe this. One step at a time and sometimes two steps forward and one step back. The hardest thing for me to accept is that God loves me so much. I love my children in a way that I cannot describe because it is so deep, but I have trouble seeing and accepting that God has that love for me. God loves YOU and me.
ReplyDeleteTeacher