Everyday Black Matters
netizen |ˈnetəzən|
noun
a user of the Internet, esp. a habitual or avid one.
~
The one that reminds me why Ash Wednesday & Lent matter (even though, yes, Ash Wednesday has passed)…
“On Ash Wednesday and throughout Lent, we’re invited to a time to look at our missteps and our regrets, our longings and our losses, and offer them all to God, who not only accepts them but transforms them.
After all, in sending His Son to suffer with and for us, God declared that our despair and our hope, our sin and our salvation, our suffering and our celebration are intertwined. He declared it’s through one that we get to the other. It’s through confession that we find forgiveness and through lament that we find healing. And Ash Wednesday offers us opportunity to do both—publicly and communally.
And it’s through this—through the smear of the ashen cross on our foreheads—that we ultimately celebrate the most poignant paradox of our faith: God draws our very hope and life—the cross—right out of our very sin and suffering—the ashes.”
~
The one that I completely identify with as I think about the season of Lent…
“Think less Harry Potter and more Draco Malfoy: Fasting became a tool to manipulate God…I thought of media but…um…I sorta want to see how Downton Abbey ends this season.I thought of Facebook, but….um…I sorta want to know what my friends are doing to stay sane and happy moms next week during February vacation.I thought of Starbucks, but…um…I sorta want to splurge weekly on a soy vanilla spice latte. Plus, where would I meet and work on church planting stuff?I know, excuses, excuses. But, in all honesty, none of these ideas sat right with me. They all felt like me manipulating God, just with different mediums……So this Lent, I’m really encouraged to think about my fast this Season not in terms of what I’m giving up, but in terms of what I want to lay hold of.”
“But as I suggest in Wonderstruck, maybe the question we need to ask as we enter Lent isn’t, “What are you giving up for Lent?” as much as “What do you want to lay hold of during Lent?” [Tweet this]
The wonders of God are waiting for you during Lent. This season is laced with opportunity that will stir your hunger to know God more.[Tweet this]
How will you lay hold of the wonders of Lent?”
~
A simple, helpful site with a daily meditation (one sentence) & a daily act of peace for 40 days. Perfect for Lent…
“For 40 days, beginning with the Martin Luther King Holiday Jr. in 2013, national and local partners, individuals, families, communities, schools, communities of faith, community organizations and many others will focus on helping to start building a peaceful community. Make a difference in your own life and in the lives of others by acting peacefully during this period and help to create a community of peace.”
~
The one where you get a free devotional guide to help you live purposefully through Lent…
“Growing up as a Protestant Christian, I experienced Lent as little more than a joke. “What are you giving up for Lent?” my friends would ask.
“Homework,” I’d say with a smirk, or “Obeying my parents.” Lent was one of those things that my Catholic friends had to worry about—another great reason to be Protestant, I figured. It never even occurred to me that Lent was something I might actually be interested in or benefit from or decide to keep or come to value as a way of getting to know God better. In the last fifteen years, I’ve learned that Lent is in fact recognized by millions of Protestant Christians, in addition to Catholic and Orthodox believers. Personally, I’ve discovered that observing Lent helps me grow in my relationship with God. It prepares me for a deeper experience of Christ’s death on Good Friday and also for a more joyful celebration of his resurrection on Easter.”
~
The one that was a very interesting juxtaposition of Valentines Day & Ash Wednesday…
…”God is not asking me to weigh my Ash Wednesday observances against my Valentine’s Day observances. God is calling me to love, and love is a very complex thing, fed as much by a season of inner examination as by outward practices of caring for others…
…In other words, it was a week of brokenness and love. Call the holidays what you will—arbitrary, symbolic, sacred, silly, whatever. They are just days on a calendar, waiting for us to animate them with meaning through how we choose to live our lives.”
~
Here’s what I want you to know about Lent & Grace Biskie: It’s the 5th day of Lent & I haven’t decided what I’m going to give up or add. Life happens & so does grace. As Osheta mentioned in her post, “this is a shame-free zone.”
If you haven’t given it much thought there are still 35 days left!
Today, is also the 1st Sunday in Lent. Take some time today (as I most certainly will) and make decisions. Those of us who always start Lent late (ahem, ME) are every bit as much worth of grace and deep fellowship with the Lord. Got it?
So. Go read all this good stuff & Lent on!
~
Anything else on these interwebs worthy of reading? What did you find this week fellow Netizens?
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In