Welcome to Lent,
The opening of week two.
These meditations are an opportunity for us to stay connected to the Lenten season all week,
Not just Sundays,
And think about Lent in the context of our everyday lives.
We have an opening and a 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 sugar or alcohol,
To giving up character issues like sarcasm or negativity,
To not engaging Lent much at all.
So these times are meant to take the focus off of the transaction of giving something up for religious duty,
But engaging the season as a time for spiritual growth,
Renewal,
And preparation.
So to start,
Let's take five big breaths.
The science behind mindfulness practice is really quite amazing.
As we do this,
We dampen the activity in a part of our brain called the amygdala and increases the connections with our prefrontal cortex.
This connection helps us to be less reactive to stressors,
To recover better from stress when we experience it.
It sharpens focus and over time it makes us more compassionate.
It has positive impact on relationships and mental health.
We are training our minds to be more attentive to life and prayer.
So feel your body breathe for just one minute and try to be particularly mindful of how your body feels as you breathe.
That was one minute.
If your mind went to other places just now or wanders throughout this time,
That's okay.
It's natural.
And you're still here,
So let's move on.
For an opening point for prayer,
Take a moment and identify where God has been lately.
Think about maybe just the last 24 hours.
Has God been in the joys,
The struggles,
And the people you have encountered?
Where has God been?
In our culture,
We often equate Lent with giving something up.
While historically this was about preparing our hearts,
Often we give up things that have little to do with our spiritual lives and may not be that ultimately meaningful.
In today's meditation,
We want to focus on what denials or releases of attachments may actually bring you closer to Christ in this season.
So if you're able,
Extend your arms out and turn your palms up or rest your palms on your lap.
We'll do this in a posture of release to the Creator.
Let's take a moment to reflect on what the Spirit may be leading you to remove from your life for a short season.
What may open up more space for God?
What might bring you closer to your God-given purpose?
In Jesus's Lenten journey,
He released his cares to the Creator.
He released his friends to the Holy Spirit and ultimately his very life to God's will.
In this Lenten season,
We focus on the scars on Jesus's hands.
We place into those hands our very lives.
Creator,
We want to take seriously any denials that might bring us closer to you.
Take anything that stands in the way of our truest selves.
Take anything that stands in the way of living our true purpose.
Take anything that stands in the way of being in harmony with the Creator of our souls.
It is so healthy to release what can hold us back,
But in releasing that,
What are we needing to take on?
What can we put in place of what we have released?
As you close your hands and bring them back to your body,
What accompanying assurances do you need in this season?
We exchange any vices for God's care of our bodies.
We exchange lack of discipline for the Spirit's work to renew us.
We hold loosely our philosophies and convictions to honor the Spirit that teaches all things.
The great spiritual writers in the Christian tradition often maintained that prayer's role is to change us from the inside as preparation for the active lives we live in the world.
Our final time of silence is to spend a moment deciding on the steps of living into Lent this year that you,
Maybe it's giving something up for Lent,
But make it spiritually meaningful.
Maybe it's committing to deeper prayer.
Maybe some kind of action of faith and justice.
Spend the final time of silence before the sacrifice to Christ in a posture and we would welcome you to join us for more guided prayers during the next four weeks of Lent.
