Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

Psalm 42 • Jeremiah 10:11-24 • Romans 5:12-21 • John 8:21-32

My earliest memories of the beach are of standing with my father at the water’s edge. Holding on to his hand, jumping and squealing, I learned that waves could be great fun, and that the white foam could tickle my toes and delight my spirit. I knew that Daddy would lift me high, above even the biggest breakers, and that I would end up in his arms, or carefully planted back on the sand. The ocean’s roar and the tumultuous movement of sand, shells, and seaweed were exciting. I felt joyful, and I felt safe.

As I grew, and became an independent pre-teen girl at the Jersey Shore, I chose a more adventurous way of tackling the surf, namely body surfing with my friends. The sea was our playground, where we somersaulted and splashed, and paddled fearlessly out toward the deep. We sized up the waves, deciding whether they were worthy of riding, or just “duds” lapping by.

But the more I rode waves alone, the more aware I became of their frightening power. I can vividly remember the first time a seemingly harmless “dud” caught me, dragged me, threw me, and pelted me with sand and debris. There was this period of time when I was in free fall underwater and could not think or act, breathe or communicate. I felt far away from my life above the water, and from the parents who now watched from chairs on the shore. I was terrified.

However, the loving and protective spirit of my father was still with me. Though I felt neither the joy nor the safety of our days at the water’s edge together, there was courage and a confidence in me that I had received from Daddy. Had I been able to see anything with my mind’s eye at that moment, it would have been Daddy in his orange swim trunks, smiling and giving me a thumbs-up.

I rode it out.

“Thank you, God, for your presence in all our moments. You lift us up and hold us tight. Empower us to share joy with all your children and to keep them safe. Amen.”

Martha Haertig

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

Psalm 119:97-120 • Jeremiah 8:18-9:6 • Romans 5:1-11 • John 8:12-20

In Jeremiah’s reading there is much darkness and despair. I’ve been there recently in my life . . . in that spirit of darkness where little faith resides. I chose today to write for because it is my birthday and what a perfect birthday present . . . the gift of God’s grace . . . the light that Jesus brings to our life! As I age in years, it is not material items I want, but gifts of spirit and relationships. Knowing that I can be accepted and loved because I have faith? That I do not have to work for it? That I can be forgiven and loved despite those times of darkness? The light of Christ allows me to see treasure in my trials . . . to grow in character . . . to not miss opportunities to learn. I only hope that I can emulate and pass on the light of Christ: to give the gift of acceptance and peace to any being in the world.

What I ask for this year is to accept the present of faith. Why is it so easy for us to have faith that we can pay a humongous mortgage over 30 years, to have faith our marriage will last until we die, but to have faith in the light of Christ . . . to save us from spiritual death can be so difficult? You can’t see the money that will pay the mortgage, the love that will hold you through the ups and downs of marriage. Having faith with the conviction of the psalm writer, as ever-present as the Romans passage . . . with the light of Christ above me, below me, beside me, and inside of me . . . is a great gift that I accept. The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you on this day and forever more.

Denni Conner

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

Psalm 78:1-39 • Jeremiah 7:21-34 • Romans 4:13-25 • John 7:37-52

MIRROR OF THE SKY

Nestled here among you in God’s country we have a life to live.

Life that is strengthened by those we love the most.
Life that grows wiser with the gifts of joy and the pains of sorrow.

As we look to the north and to the south we find the beauty of the Blue Ridge. To the east, the life giving waters of gently flowing rivers and off to the west the rugged slopes of the Appalachians.

It is here where peace is around.

It is here that love never fades away and the hills roll to the sea. It is here where the blue vista mirrors the sky. It is here where the songbird sings and the mandolin rings. It is here where quiet stillness is felt and stars shine in the darkness.

It is in this sacred space that we have a life to live, a sacred spirit to embrace, and something new to see when we look into the sky.

Darren Ball

Monday of the Third Week of Lent

Psalm 80 • Jeremiah 7:1-15 • Romans 4:1-12 • John 7:14-36

During his last visit to Jerusalem, Jesus preached in the Temple. Jesus had taught in many venues but in none more significant than the Temple in Jerusalem, the epicenter of the Jewish faith. In so doing Jesus was following a long tradition. As today’s Old Testament lesson relates, the prophet Jeremiah, while also teaching in the Temple, had centuries earlier condemned the people of Jerusalem for their faithlessness. Indeed, the prophet’s pronouncement of judgment was so much a model of its type that the word jeremiad was later coined to define such excoriations. God’s people had not kept the law, to be sure. Still, if the people would amend their ways and follow the law, then God would dwell with them forever. But if they did not, Jeremiah conveyed God’s assurance that “I will cast you out of my sight.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus does not disagree with Jeremiah. As he notes, “none of you keeps the law.” Not much had changed, in other words. The fact, however, is that no one can keep the law. It is a goal to be pursued but never achieved. Besides, Jesus had not come to reject the law but to fulfill it. The proper response to the demands of the law, Jesus said, is to resolve to do the will of God. Simply put, the primary task is to have faith. If people truly and honestly seek God’s will, then in so doing they will come to know the true doctrine.

As St. Paul points out in today’s reading from his Letter to the Romans, such teaching fulfills rather than breaks with the law. St. Paul recounts that “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.” That is, even before Moses had given Israel the law, faith had become the better measure of righteousness. It is faith, not works, which ultimately makes the difference. We might well, therefore, ponder the implications of this historical thread of doctrinal truth as a means of enriching our own Lenten journeys.

David Nelson

Third Sunday of Lent

Psalm 95 • Exodus 17:1-7 • Romans 5:1-11 • John 4:5-42

Just then his disciples came. 

They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman. . . 

John 4:5-42

Jesus continually spoke with women. His mother, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Suzanna (Luke 8:2-3), Mary and Martha of Bethany (Luke 10:38-41), just to name a few instances. And in this story, He spoke to a Samaritan woman, a thing forbidden by rabbinic custom. Men do not speak to women. Of course, the women were always portrayed in some negative light, except for Mary of Bethany. The fact that the Samaritan woman was at the well at noon suggests an array of negative implications.

In many of the Gospel parables, there is an underlying theme that Jesus spoke against the attitude of entitlement. We are entitled to this land because we conquered you. We are entitled to the best because we are superior. By attrition, we may soon learn, the hard way, how this entitlement thing works if we do not lose the attitude. I am as guilty as everyone, so I am not pointing fingers. Suddenly, I have become aware of it because every time an incident occurs that jabs at my sense of entitlement, a little dagger lands in my heart. Holy Spirit has, once again, hit the mark.

Lord God, righteous and Holy, make us aware, as we go through each day, that Jesus, our Redeemer, redeemed each of us, and let us reach out to ALL of our brothers and sisters in new ways, ways that make us feel uncomfortable at first, but that will give us that true sense of peace, the peace of God that passes all understanding. Let us learn from Jesus, not only by His words, but by His actions. In His Holy Name. Amen

Mary Carolyn Lawson

Saturday of the Second Week of Lent

Psalm 75 • Jeremiah 5:20-31 • Romans 3:19-31 • John 7:1-13

The lessons today challenge us to walk in harmony with the LORD. Jesus is just coming into his ministry, wary of showing himself in a hostile country. But in the following passage Jesus demonstrates an astute understanding of the “law and the Prophets” yet sets out to reveal a new relationship with GOD.

As repeated in Paul’s letter to the Romans, it is not obedience to the law but faith in Jesus by which we are saved. Jesus’ self-sacrifice is a redeeming act for his sinful people, not earned by ritualistic blood sacrifice, liturgical correctness or adherence to the law but “to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous because, in his divine forbearance, he had passed over the sins previously committed.”

Yet despite this unearned and undeserved gift we continue to face the choice of living in right relationship with the creation. Jeremiah’s words decry those who “have eyes but do not see, ears but do not hear.” We are virtually in the Garden of Eden, yet people “take over the goods of others, [becoming] great and rich, [knowing] no limits in deeds of wickedness,” failing to act with justice or to defend the weak and needy. Our present prophets and priests teach falsely and lead with no shame “and my people love to have it so.” In Jeremiah GOD wonders “shall I not bring retribution on a nation such as this?”

Thankfully, the message of Jesus life and death has answered that, but still Jeremiah’s last words echo: “What will you do when the end comes?”

Pam and Peter Dennison

Friday of the Second Week of Lent

Psalm 69 • Jeremiah 5:1-9 • Romans 2:25-3:18 • John 5:30-47

My meditation is based on John 5:30-47.

My understanding of this passage is as follows:

After discussing his relation to the Father in terms of his will and actions being the same as the Father’s, Jesus says that his judgment is that of God and, therefore, is just. In order that his followers may believe him and, therefore, be saved, he offers three ways in which God has given witness to Jesus as His son. He has witnessed to him through the ministry of John the Baptist, through the works accomplished through Jesus, and through the scriptures (if they believed Moses, they would believe Jesus).

Then he criticizes those who do not believe him as basing their judgment on human pride. They do not have the love of God in them.

In this passage, Jesus seems sure of who he is and bases it on his relationship with God. Those who believe in him enter into a relationship with God through their relationship with Jesus. Those who do not have the love of God in them choose to follow one another rather than the glory that comes from God.

During Lent, those of us who are followers of The Way try to spend more time discerning and deepening our relationship with God as experienced through Jesus.

Helen Reynolds