Lent Day 2
One of the points I spoke about at our Ash Wednesday service this year was the need to slow down to see clearly.
The honest truth is, I find it very difficult to see clearly, especially when I talk about what we see when we look in the mirror. I don't often see myself; I don't often see all my scars, open wounds, and brokenness.
As a pastor whose everyday work is thinking about the others, my thoughts and prayers are in the stories of my congregation and the ministries that surround it: Their wounds, worries, frustrations, anger, illnesses, loss, and brokenness. There are good stories as well, don't get me wrong, but as someone had said, pain stays and weighs heavy, but happiness tends to float away quickly. People's scars and wounds tend to stay with me more than happy things, and so I struggle with joy and happiness.
I wondered if many of us are experiencing the same thing, whether you are parents who can only see your children (and their happiness) in the mirror. Or a business owner who depends on your employees and their well-being. Our joy and peace are dependent on others more than what is happening to us inside.
If only we could slow down enough to have the space and time to look for help, help for ourselves.
Lent is an interesting period of time to reflect on this because we are asked to give up something, something that we rely on because we feel it is essential to our lives, even though they are most likely not. And so my question is, what is it that we have to give up and lay before God so we can address our brokenness and experience joy that does not depend on others?
I believe the answer has something to do with our [church’s] theme of Simplicity: less of ourselves and more of God.
"What do you mean less of ourselves when the problem is we can't see more of ourselves?"
“Could it be that having more of God in my life helps me to see my true self more clearly?”
“There is only one problem on which all my existence, my peace, and my happiness depend: to discover yourself in discovering God. If I find Him I will find myself and if I find my true self I will find Him.” - Thomas Merton
