I had no plan for Lent this year, which is odd for me. I grew up Catholic, became a Protestant Youth Pastor, but still love many of the observances I grew up with. I normal do a Facebook Live devotional or fast something, and none of these things appealed to me or even came to mind.
My slippage of memory could be because Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday have fallen on the same day this year. I’m in weird place right now, almost a lame duck feeling that presidents get in their last term in office. I just can’t move forward until I’m through whatever I am in.
I came across this article by Jana Riess where she said,
I’ve done it all: given up meat. Given up chocolate. Given up TV. Given up unnecessary spending.
And then after many years of those small sacrifices I gave up the giving up, because it wasn’t “working” – it wasn’t bringing me any closer to God, however good it may have been for me on the self-improvement front. Lent isn’t about self-improvement; it’s about a journey to God.
This really resonated with me. I’ve done Daniel Fasts, Social Media fasts, etc. etc. and each had their value. Jana then began to share about a medieval prayer wheel that was discovered that seem to have seven weeks of focus.
No one knows how the actual prayer wheel works but Jana has written a book on how she might think it works or has created her own way to use it. Either way I am intrigued and for the next seven weeks I will be writing about my journey, with the prayer wheel as a steering wheel, toward God.
Today is day one and, as per instructions on the FB group, I repeat the words, the declaration, surrounding the circle
“The order of the diagram written here teaches the return home. ”
Today’s question: In a word or two, what do you want/need “home” with God to be?
My answer was: Community. Home is where people gather around the table for discussion, food, laughter, and games.
I thought about heaven today. I told God what I wanted heaven to be. People always say there will be no death, dying, or sickness which is all great, but the one thing I look forward to about heaven, is that I will never be alone again. There will always be someone to talk to, someone to hug me, or someone to cheer me up.
Maybe there will be lots of round tables, with coffee of course, filled with people to have interesting discussions with. Although I will know God as I am fully known at that point, I won’t know the other people in the same way, which means I can get to know a whole new group of people who are happy to talk and share and no one sits at a table alone.
What is home to you?