Actually everything we do is practice. We practice generosity. We practice hope. We practice love. And in Lent we practice leaning into God in new ways. This Lent 2019, using resources from Worship Design Studio we are practicing slowing down...making room for our unhurried God to enter our lives.
All of us seem to be so busy...we are busy at our jobs, we are busy taking care of family, we are busy finding our center, getting healthy. So often our busyness gets in the way of settling in and taking a breath and doing nothing. God often comes to us when we are doing...nothing. Only then do we hear God's still small voice. Only then are we open to the ways God can transform us.
So what are we doing? We are practicing doing nothing. Some of us have designated a chair in our homes...a "prayer chair" (the one pictured is at Pilgrim Lodge, our Maine Conference summer camp.) First we consider what is getting in our way...what are the burdens, the worries that occupy our minds. We name them and then we pray the Serenity Prayer, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference" Then we take a deep breath. And then...we do nothing. We sit. We listen. And we wait for God. Some of us are able to do this for just a few minutes. Others linger. It doesn't matter. We are practicing. And we will get better at this practice. And God will meet us in ways we have yet to imagine.
This is what Lent is about...practicing our love for our God who loves us...even when we don't have the time.
