Welcome to Lent Week 3 Opening.
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.
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 and negativity to some years not giving up anything for Lent.
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 spiritual growth and renewal.
So to start I invite you to take five big breaths.
The science behind mindful practice is amazing.
As we do this we dampen the activity in the 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 as we experience it.
It sharpens focus and over time makes us more compassionate.
It has positive impacts on relationships and mental health.
We are training our minds to be more attentive to life.
So to begin today just feel yourself breathe for one minute and as you do try to be particularly mindful to feel your body as you breathe.
I hope that minute was refreshing and you were able to slow your body and your mind down.
If your mind went to other places just now or happens throughout this time it's okay it's natural and you're still here so let's move on.
Take a moment to identify where God has been lately.
Think about the last day or two maybe even the last 24 hours.
In joy or in struggle where has the divine shown up in your life?
One of the scriptures commonly associated with the spiritual path of Lent is Jesus's experience being tempted in the desert.
This scripture will frame our week three and four meditations.
It happens at the beginning of the Gospels and is seen as a preparation event for the work he would go on to do.
We will look at this story as it appears in Matthew.
In the story Jesus is led into the wilderness for 40 days and in that time tempted by the devil.
Each time he is tempted the stakes are a little higher and his answers are very revealing.
To the first temptation Jesus answers man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth.
In this answer he indicates that he is sustained by the spirit just like the body is sustained by food.
So if you're able extend your arms out and turn your palms up or rest your palms on your lap.
We do this as a posture of release for the Creator.
Take a moment to reflect on Jesus's words man shall not live by bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
How is this true for you?
In Jesus's 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's hands.
God we place into those hands our very lives.
We are so much more than biological bodies that live on earth for a period of time and decay.
There is a nurturing of our spirit that you offer us that we long for and that we accept in this Lenten season.
What spiritual nourishments do you need in this season?
Let's take a moment and prayerfully consider this.
We are grateful for your provisions for our body and the meaning and purpose of our lives that are provisions for the nourishment of our souls.
We understand our need for your spirit to nurture the paths of our growth.
We maintain a focus on this season as a time to have our spirit nurtured through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
God we receive the sacrifice of Christ and all that it offers 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 as preparation for active lives lived in the world.
Our final time of silence is to spend a moment deciding on steps of nurturing the spirit for this week.
Maybe it's giving something up for Lent but making it spiritually meaningful.
Maybe it's committing to a deeper form of prayer or some kind of action of faith and justice.
Spend some final time of silence before the sacrificed Christ in a posture of commitment.
What spiritual nourishment do you need this week?
Amen.
We welcome you to join us for more guided prayers during the next four weeks of the Lent season.
