“The Lenten journey calls us to examine the things in which our hearts are invested. How important is comfort to us? Would we be willing to listen to hard truths and be changed by them even if it proved to be difficult? Or are we committed to the status quo because, though it may be imperfect, it’s at least familiar? Again and again, we are implored to listen, especially when what we hear is unsettling.”
“Great potter, if I am clay, then I fear I am being molded by the world. I fear that I am in the hands of news feeds, social media, to-do lists, and social pressures. However, what I want is to be clay in your hands. I want to be shaped by you. I want to…
“We might expect the long-awaited Messiah to greet his new followers like the kings before him have—with a pompous coronation, with hunger to exert power and control over his populus. Instead, Jesus steps in line along the river’s edge, blending in with the crowds, joining in solidarity with those around him. Jesus doesn’t demand any…
“God invites us into thorough self examination and authentic relationship. In this image, a person kneels with arms extended, basking in the glow of God’s all-encompassing love. It is in the true pursuit of God, this intimate, inward turning, that God sees you. It is in our full, embodied, intentionality that we find deep connection…
“If you hold a newborn in your arms,All at once you will understandThe crook of your elbowAnd the cup of your palmAs never before—Ordinary curves of the bodyTransformed into a resting space.You were designed for love.”— Excerpt from “Hold” by Rev. Sarah AreFrom the Again & Again poetry collection by @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…
“Great teacher, you rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. It was a peaceful protest, but it was risky. You had to have known that this would end in violence, for who could stand against the state and survive? I imagine your bravery, and pray: Grant me a portion of that courage. I want to love…
