Welcome back to Lent,
The closing of week two.
These meditations are an opportunity for us to stay connected to the Lenten season all week and not just Sundays,
And to think about Lent in the context of our everyday lives.
We have an opening and closing meditation for each week of Lent from here.
My name is Jess,
And I have engaged Lent in everything from giving up physical things like alcohol or sugar,
To giving up character issues like negativity or sarcasm.
I've also spent years of my life not engaging Lent at all.
So these times are meant to take the focus off the transaction of giving something up for religious duty,
But engaging the season as a time of preparation,
Of spiritual growth,
And of renewal.
To start,
Let's take five big breaths.
The science behind mindful practice is truly remarkable.
As we do this,
We dampen the activity in a part of our brain called the amygdala and increase the connections with the prefrontal cortex.
This connection helps us to be less reactive to stressors and to recover better from stress when we experience it.
It sharpens focus,
And over time it makes us more compassionate,
Has positive impact on relationships and mental health.
We are training our minds to be more attentive to life and to prayer.
So feel yourself breathe for just one minute,
And over that 60 seconds,
Try to be particularly mindful of how your body feels as you breathe.
I hope it felt good to slow the body and calm the mind.
If your mind went to other places just now or happens throughout this time,
That's okay.
It's natural.
And you're still here,
So let's move on.
For our opening prayer,
Take a moment to identify where God has been today.
Think about the last 24 hours.
Where has God shown up?
In joys,
In struggle,
In people?
Where has God been?
The hallmark of the Lenten devotion is self-examination and repentance.
It is the time in the historic Christian calendar to take stock of our lives,
To check in with ourselves through the guidance of the Spirit.
Ask ourselves,
Are we who we want to be?
Are we who the Creator has told us we are?
Self-examination is the internal work.
Repentance is taking the steps to implement the discoveries of self-examination.
What are we going to do differently?
How are we going to live differently?
How will what we decide show up in our behaviors,
Relationships,
And life patterns?
If you're able,
Extend your arms out and turn your palms up or rest your palms on your lap.
We do this in a posture of release toward the Creator.
Take a moment for self-examination.
Are we being who we want to be?
Are we being who the Creator has told us that we are?
In Jesus' Lenten journey,
He released his cares to the Creator.
He released his friends to the Holy Spirit,
And ultimately his life to God's will.
In this Lenten season,
We focus on the scars on Jesus' hands.
Creator,
We place into those hands our very lives.
We want to take seriously any denials that may bring us closer to you.
Build in us the actions we need to be our truest selves,
Living our true purpose in harmony with the Creator of our souls.
It is so healthy to do the work of self-examination,
But in doing it,
We cannot just be left there.
We need to do the work of repentance.
So as you close your hands,
What accompanying actions are there?
What do you need to be committed to?
We exchange any fear of growth or movement for the active faith in a Creator who catches us.
We exchange any guilt and shame for the reality of forgiveness offered to us by this season.
We give to you what the Spirit has brought to our minds in this time,
And we ask you for guidance as we establish new patterns.
Lord,
We receive the sacrifice of Christ and all that it offers to us as liberation to the world and to our hearts.
The great spiritual writers in the Christian tradition often maintained that prayer's role is to change us inward as preparation for active lives lived in the world.
Our final time of silence is to spend a moment deciding on steps to live into Lent this day,
The next 24 hours.
Maybe it's giving something up for Lent,
But making it spiritually meaningful.
Maybe it's committing to a deeper place of prayer or some kind of action of faith and justice.
Spend the final minute of silence before the sacrificed Christ in a posture of commitment about this one day ahead of you.
Amen.
We invite you to join us for more guided prayers during the next three weeks of Lent.
