A Concord Pastor Comments: Praying 10 Minutes a Day: Third Week/Wednesday

Here in the northeast U.S., we're welcoming the arrival of warmer days and blooming crocus like folks who'd never known another springtime!

Even after a mild winter, these days burgeon with promise of what's to come and begin to thaw the chill from hearts and bones long tired of short, dark days.

It doesn't take much: a rise of 10 degrees on the thermometer, some color poking up through the brown earth and an extra our before the sun sets... That's all we seem to need to refresh our trust that spring is on the way.

Bears hibernate but God doesn't.

Must it be spring before I'm grateful for a little extra warmth that wraps me in its arms?

What other signs of promise have been coming my way, especially this Lent?

Remember: our word "Lent" comes from an old English word meaning "springtime" (that is, the "length-ening" of days!

Today finds us three weeks from Ash Wednesday. In these first three weeks of Lent, how has God been poking his way up, not up from the earth, but through the ups and downs of my days and nights, reminding me of his presence, his peace, his desire to walk these Lenten days with me?

In praying for 10 minutes today, I might thank God for the gift of spring and what it opens in my mind, my heart, my outlook on tomorrow...

I might ask God to help me warm to every sign of his presence and to draw me up out of the earth like a crocus reaching for the sun...

Perhaps today I'll spend my 10 minutes praying out doors...

Are you new to "Praying 10 Minutes a Day in Lent" - or are you having trouble getting started? The first installment offers some thoughts on getting started, as do the subsequent posts in the series. So take a look and join us!