Welcome to this meditation series for the season of Lent.
If you are unfamiliar with the liturgical season of Lent,
It is the six weeks or 40 days preceding Easter.
Reflecting the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert,
This time of fasting,
Prayer,
And giving prepares us for the miracle of the resurrection.
This series is based in the Christian story,
But know all are welcome who know the justice of this world is imperfect.
Find a comfortable seat.
Take a deep breath and close your eyes.
Let us first ground in our body.
Take a few more deep,
Slow breaths.
Listen to the rhythm of your breath and find the rhythm of your heart.
This is the movement of your existence.
Here is the core of who you are in your body.
How you experience the world,
How the world experiences you.
Accept this breath and this heartbeat as the movement of you.
It is continuous and steady,
The same as it was for you 10 years ago,
One hour ago,
Tomorrow,
10 years from now.
Your breath and your heartbeat does not change,
Yet it sustains every change you have ever been through and will ever become.
Here you are.
Close your eyes and put yourself in the desert.
It is night.
You cannot see much of the landscape or even what is close to you.
The stars fill the sky overhead,
An almost unbelievable number of points above you.
You hear the chorus of insects and the rustles of nocturnal animals.
You take in a deep breath and try not to be afraid.
There could be a predator near and you would not know.
It could be close and you would not see.
You strain your ears for any signs of danger.
Is that the hiss of a snake or the wind in the sand?
Is that the wing flap of an owl or the pads of something larger?
Was that a howl in the distance or just your mind playing tricks?
You take a deep breath and close your eyes.
Except for the stars,
It makes little difference if your eyes are open or not.
There is so much to fear.
What if?
What if something invades your space?
What if it gets so cold you freeze in the darkness or so hot you die of heat stroke?
What if someone you love is killed?
What if you are permanently injured or incapacitated or disenfranchised?
What if the ground moves beneath you?
What if?
What if?
You return to your breath in and out.
In and out.
The ground is solid beneath you.
The wind surrounds you.
You take another deep breath.
Unsure what you might encounter,
You slowly,
Cautiously open your eyes.
It is no longer completely dark.
There is a gray haze that makes shapes visible and shadows long.
This is an in-between world,
Someplace where all the unanswered questions live.
The uncertainty of a gray place means possibility and fear.
You take a deep breath and try to accept this place as it is.
Your desire for clear visibility will not make the sun rise faster.
You must live in this space and breathe through it.
It will be brighter soon and eventually this liminal gray time will come again.
It is the natural order.
More deep breaths ground you as you wait.
Then you see it.
There is pink in the sky to the east.
You turn toward it,
Taking more comfort from these streaks than you expected.
It becomes easier to wait now that the coming sun seems more real.
Change is happening.
Your fears start to subside as the landscape starts to focus.
Everything exposed by the light becomes visible for everything that becomes visible is light.
You watch as the pink slowly turns lighter and more yellow.
What was frightening in the dark is now almost humorously mundane.
This is a world you can understand one you can survive.
You can even relax and thrive here.
A passing cloud's shadow reminds you that the snakes are still here and it will be twilight and dark again.
The sunlight does not erase the predators.
Yet your fear of them is changing into a growing confidence.
You take a deep breath and give yourself the gift of a long exhale.
You were once darkness,
But now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light,
For light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.
You take another deep breath and exhale with a smile.
Now you can start your day.
