Ash Wednesday Services

“I wonder if Jesus could feel his heartbeatIn his throat, the way I do when I’m afraid.I wonder if he had to take deep breaths,In through his nose, out through his mouth,Tricking his body into a state of calm.I wonder if he was nauseous, like I amWhen I’m headed into a hard conversation.I wonder if…

“Today I will listenLouder than I speak,And look for the tablesThat Jesus is flipping.For our God carvedWords into stone.Our God led the peopleIn a pillar of smoke.Our God was presentIn the still, small voice,In the middle of the storm,And where people rejoice.And if God was showing them the way,Then I am confident,God is here today—Dropping…

“If there is one truth in my lifeThat unfolds again and again,It is the need to listen. For again and again, I will try, with good intentions,To act and walk with love.But again and again, I will make mistakes.Again and again, I will say the wrong thing.Again and again, they will call me Peter,And again…

What conversations are hard for you to hear? Lean into active listening today. | @sanctifiedart

“There is vulnerability in being fully seen. We risk being defined by our blemishes. I trust few people with that picture, and only because I know they love me. And there it is: love. Again and again, God’s love calls us into its redeeming phos.Can we trust this love enough to draw the drapes of…

“What I am left withIs myselfAnd a big, open sky.It’s colder here.It’s quieter.I can hear my thoughts.And in this big, wide opennessI am able to say out loud,‘Maybe I wasn’t right.Maybe I need to learn.Maybe it’s time for change.Maybe that’s okay.’”— Excerpt from “Keep Digging” by Rev. Sarah AreFrom the Again & Again poetry collection…