| Posted by Lyn Woodruff in River Women's Prayer Reflections texting group. If you'd like to join, post a comment, or contact the office. info@riversouthbay.org Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long. Psalm 23:6 €œGoodness and mercy pursue me. Good€'s friendliness and kindness will run after me and chase me down, grab me, and hold me. The verb €œfollow€ is a powerful, active verb. We are being chased by God’s powerful love. Yet, We run from it. We try to escape. We fear that goodness because then we are no longer in control. We do not trust such a generosity, and we think our own best efforts are better than God's mercy. Lent is a time to quit running, to let ourselves be caught and embraced in love. Our life is not willed by God to be an endless anxiety. It is, rather, meant to be an embrace, but that entails being caught by God. Lent is about noticing the blindness of our hearts (Paul prays to open the eyes of my heart, LORD) to see past our anxiety, our greeds, our fears, our control. See yourself as the sheep of this Good Shepherd, as the traveler in God’s good valley, as the citizen at home in God’s good house. You will, when you see truly His heart of love for you, be free and joyous and generous, unencumbered and grateful. When you Desire one thing: God's presence. And then you will be less driven by all those temporary desires that matter not at all. (Excerpted from Walter Brueggemann, A Way Other Than Our Own) Prayer: Jehovah-Raah, Catch us, and embrace us in your love as you are the true lover of our souls. Help us to trust you and desire YOU more than anything else, Blessed Trinity, that we may know the joy and freedom of life in you. Like the trapeze artist who must let go to be caught, let us let go of our control and ego today, and be caught by your goodness and mercy and dwell with you today. Amen | |
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