LENTEN LINE 3: "To lift up in prayer"

 "It's not the weight you carry

but how you carry it ---

books, bricks, grief ---

it's all in the way 

you embrace it, balance it, carry it

when you cannot, and would not,

put it down."

~ Mary Oliver from the poem HEAVY

Prayer time is one of those "must haves" when we gather together in worship or study or with simply the intention of being together. 

To lift anything or anyone starts with the intention to want to lift it;

We assess our need, gather others to join in the lifting;

We focus and find ways to get underneath the all of it;

Not rushed, we lift slowly and purposefully.

Now that I think more about it, "to lift up in prayer" is a near perfect metaphor for what we do when we pray for another;

LENTEN LINE 2: "Listen....."

 "Listen, now to the Word of God..." says the preacher before reading the scripture lesson.   There is a physical response, heads raise, we sit up, we stop (even if briefly) doodling on the bulletin or playing on the cellphone. 

We are attentive.

Attention.  That is the heart of all listening. One puts aside all distractions and focuses upon the person before or beside. 

When someone comes into my office and sits down across from me. The person needs to talk with me...it may be major, it my be just seeking a moment of connection and conversation. I turn off my computer screen and move my chair away from the desk....I give them my attention.  I've learned that human beings like that. 

Years ago I heard this line in a montage of film clips celebrating women in movies: "She was my mother and I knew there would never be anyone who would listen to me like my mother."  I am blessed to resonate with this line because I was blessed to have experienced this focused, attentive listening from my mum.

It's been my experience, that the ground for listening is cultivated by spending time and building trust. When I led youth group meetings and the often futile attempts at discussion, the real connections came after the meeting, after two hours of zany spent together, a teen waiting for his ride home would talk with me. My crew of self-advocates would form a line post-meeting to spend a moment or several moments talking with me. I respected them by listening. 

With all the rush of media and distractions we've developed the attention span of a hungry dog in a meat market. Forget not knowing each other, we don't even seem to notice another person.

In so many ways we have forgotten that we belong to one another. 

For the many who long to be noticed, seen, heard, invited, received and shown they indeed do matter....start with paying attention...then build to asking how they are...and listen to one's answer and respond. 

In our divided and destructive world this action may make the most impact.

LENTEN LINE 1: "You try me....."

With a sigh of exasperation and seeking calm, my mother would say, "You try me."  It was never directed at me of course.......yet it was her way, I suppose, of expressing that she was nearing the point where her proverbial last nerve was about to be gotten on.

The first Sunday of the Lenten season always begins with the tempation story of Jesus.  As we begin our individual and corporate journeys, we too are to ready ourselves for this season of introspection, to go deeply into knowing who one is...all that is good and wonderful and all those aspects that need to be improved and strengthened; to confront the barriers that keep one from wholeness and living seamlessly.

Basically, before and more than giving up something for Lent, let us go inward and seek to know ourself.  To begin this procees, I believe first and foremost and always we are each beloved, blessed and beautiful to behold...let that be the mantra one carries as we work to become the best me one can be.

In the movie BROADCAST NEWS, the character played by Holly Hunter states, "He's the devil. Look at how good looking he is, how suave and cool...he's the devil. You think the devil's going to show up with red horns and long tail?!!?  No.  He will show up looking like that which will most tempt."

Sustenance.   Security.   Power.  Protection. Do we lose our center, our grounding, our sense of beloved personhood in pursuit of or focus upon these things?  

My confession would be yes.  The next part of the introspection would be to ask and seek to answer why. 

Personally, and I think I know the reason, I struggle with the notion of trust. I love the line, "Just leap.  Either you will be given wings or you will land on solid ground." Hmmmm....are the wings mentioned angel wings because I'm going to die if I take this leap?  Why tempt it, the solid ground I'm on now is fine.....yet, I'm not becoming more me......I pause. I reflect. I ask. I answer. I become whole......

The journey continues......