1st Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the first Sunday of Lent are:

1. Genesis 9: 8-15
   
2. Psalm 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
   
3. 1 Corinthians 10: 31-11:1
   
4. Mark 1: 12-15
   

• Welcome to creation
  
• Creation is not just a backdrop for the human drama to unfold in.  Instead, creation is a part of us just as much as we are a part of creation.  When we are fully human, that benefits all of creation, and when we learn to take our proper place in creation, we become more and more able to receive God's blessings through His creation.
• What are some things that you have learned of/from God through His creation?
• How can we be better stewards of God's creation right now?
• Does it matter that our puny efforts make a small difference?
  

• Learning to learn by learning to be humble
  
• The humble person is blessed because they have nothing to prove, no need to make sure that everyone/anyone knows of their contributions.  So the humble person is able to be receptive to what God has to show them, and able to quickly leave behind that which no longer does them any good.
• Think of a time when things would have gone better had you been more humble?
• Why do you think that it's hard for you to be humble?
• Has it gotten harder or easier to be humble as the years have gone by?
• Do you think that "fake it until you make it" works with humility?
  

• Making all things new
  
• I've always wondered why God chose to spare Noah and his family and instead just start over.  My theory is that God likes to redeem the irredeemable, heal the broken hearted, and bind up the wounded.
  
• Think of a time in your life when you needed real help, and you turned to God.
• How did God bring you through that challenging time?
• What was God's solution to what was hurting you?
• In what way is that hurt still with you today?
• Are you a better person because of that experience?
• Would you go through that again, if given a choice?
  

• Urgency
  
• I sometimes wonder what life would be like if we could live forever.  We probably would get nothing done in life because we would know that there is always a tomorrow, so there would be no urgency to get anything done today.  Jesus must have sensed that His time with us was going to be short because He certainly started His ministry with a bang.
• If you prepared a "spiritual bucket list" of things that you wanted to experience, give away, achieve as a Christian before you die, what would the top five items be on that list?
• Do you think that God feels the same way about those items as far as their importance?
• If you were to spend some time in prayer with that bucket list, what do you think God's response to it would be?
• If you only had time left in life for one of those items on your list, which would it be?
• Why?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Is there anyone in need in my life that I need to reach out to?
   
2. Where might I need to seek greater humility in my life?
   
3. Where is God transforming past hurts in my life today?
   
4. Where is God calling me to be more focused?

Oiling My Tools

Here's the awl that my uncle Hiram gave me when I was first learning carpentry.

It's worn handle fitting snugly in my palm, its sharp point ground down through the years.

 

And the block plane that Joseph gave me for my 16th birthday gleams so in the afternoon sun.

Reminding me of the many surfaces that we have shaped and smoothed together.

 

My chisels, sharpened to a dull sheen, arranged in perfect order stand in their rack.

A mute testimony to the patience that cousin Jacob had with me when he showed me how to use them.

 

I've had steady work these years.  No matter where I've gone, folks always needed a carpenter.

These tools have earned me a warm welcome wherever I have gone.

 

And now, I must leave them for someone else to profit from them.

I say good bye to each of them as I remember our hours and days together.

 

Reminding me of the calm and peace of these years, and how I have set down such roots here.

But those roots still bolster and strengthen my heart as I prepare to leave this place, these tools.

 

My family will find new homes for these old friends.  Up and coming wood workers

Looking to make their way in life building what needs to be built, and repairing the rest.

 

As for me, it is time to take what my Father has shown me here in this place of peace.

And show it to others, that they may find the face of the Prince of Peace within me.

 

I'm not sure what lies ahead, but I know what will sustain me in these weeks and months before me.

The smell of bread baking in the hearth, the sound of the village blacksmith, the calls to prayer.

The hand of my Father through all, in all, because of all.

It is all within reach, none of it to be grasped, but only to be given away.

I run my hand over the satin smooth surface of my last trestle table.

I smell the forest from whence it came, and the creator from which the forest came.

It is all one.  I'm never far from home.  Home is always where my Father has called me.

I am leaving that I may bring them home with me, to me, through me.

Shalom!