LENT WEEK 1
Haiku Meditation
The winter will end
Seeds planted long ago wait
Rested and ready
”Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Throughout the long winter months, while the ground is at rest, restorative work occurs deep beneath the surface in preparation for new growth. Rest allows for the renewal to come. Even our physical bodies require rest as essential for allowing the body to rebuild and the mind to reset for each new day.
Sometimes we find ourselves in a longer wintering season such as after a traumatic experience, a loss, or sometimes just an intense season of busyness. No matter what led us into the deep winter, we must be attentive to the rest our minds and bodies require for restoration. Winter is not a passive season. Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28 reveals that there’s an exchange between us and him that must occur. It’s only when we actively come to him and lay our burdens down that our hearts fully receive the rest he promises. This requires a slowing down and a surrendering of our agenda to pause, take some deep breaths, and just be still.
There are physical changes in the body when we take the time to slow down and breathe deeply. Our muscles may soften, our shoulders drop as tension releases, our heart rate slows down, and our thoughts become clearer.
Breathe Prayer: Pause here for a moment to sit comfortably, feel your feet placed on the floor, open your hands and rest them on your lap. We will take 3 deep breaths with a prayer on each inhale and exhale.
Inhale Lord give me your peace
Exhale I surrender my thoughts
Inhale Lord give me your peace
Exhale I surrender my body
Inhale Lord give me your peace
Exhale I surrender my heart
Scripture Meditation: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Our western culture does not value rest but rather prides itself on busyness and having a multi-tasking mindset. We boast about our accomplishments and how much we can get done in a day. We create devices that increase productivity and measure our success by our output. But a wintering season reminds us to be mindful of our input vs our output.
In researching ways to prepare the soil of a garden emerging from winter, I came across this statement,
“Soil is a storehouse for all the elements needed to grow.”
It’s what the soil has stored up that makes it capable for the seeds within it to be able to grow. The laws of nature tell us that winter is a time of input, of receiving and storing up what’s needed for renewal and new growth to emerge.
Lent gives us a time to focus on renewal. It invites us to reorder our appetites and hunger for the things that align our hearts with God’s. We must face our habits, our creature comforts, our obsessions and addictions, and ask ourselves, “Am I preparing the soil of my heart to be a storehouse for the new growth God wants to do within me?”.
Jesus began his 40 days in the wilderness with fasting. He was being tested in the very flesh and submitting his appetite to the will of the Father. Scripture tells us he resists the temptation of the devil to turn stones into bread. We must allow God to have authority in every area of our lives, even our appetites. We live in an age where we our bombarded with input and can soothe our souls with many numbing comforts and distractions.
This week’s spiritual practice invites us to test our appetite, take inventory of our input and participate in fasting from something.
Maybe it’s a physical comfort such as food or a technology fast from your phone or social media.
It also could be a fast from your to do list, instead beginning your day surrendered to how God may lead you. Or maybe it’s a fast from pride or impatience.
Spiritual Practice: Ask God to show you what to fast from. Choose a duration of time to fast such as 12-24 hours or even all of Lent. During the fast, ask the Holy Spirit to inhabit the desires of your heart, mind, and body to align your appetite with God’s heart for your life.
Embodied Prayer “INHABIT” As you watch, look for ways the movement embodies a reordering of our desires and an invitation for the Holy Spirit to inhabit our prayers. Try some of the movement yourself in your own prayer time.
Guided Journal Prompts:
What season have I been in lately?
What daily habits are inhabiting and forming me?
What am I storing up in the soil of my heart and life? Is it helping me grow?
What do I need to surrender in order for Christ’s Peace to more fully inhabit me?
PRAYER: Lord, cultivate the soil of my life with all of the elements needed to become a rich storehouse for new beauty to grow. Help me surrender to your restorative ways and make me ready to emerge from the fallow, winter season renewed by your Spirit..
Suggested song for the week: “Cherry Blossoms” by Andy Squyres
Art work by Natalie Salminen Rude
https://nataliesalminen.com
Haiku by Libby Johnson
Music by Ty Rex
Dancer MJ Thompson
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May not be used or duplicated without permission