Pastoral Message

We are at that time - Lent - when we travel together - seeking to repent, to turn our lives in such a way that we travel with Jesus on his path to Jerusalem.  We know what will happen there and how it will end.  We are invited to take part in prayer and self-denial that we might align our hearts with the love of God poured out for us in each step and in each breath.  This is not about boldly proclaiming whose we are.   It is about accepting what takes place for the forgiveness and salvation of all and how our lives, our actions and our words can invite others to know, to live, to accept these gifts.
Here is a prayer from Steve Garnaas-Holmes about our season, found at unfoldinglight.net:

Temptation
For forty days he was tempted by the devil.
—Luke 4.2
Temptation
God, I confess
I want the power
to make things as I wish them,
to turn stones to bread, this to that,
to have the world as I desire, not as it is.
I renounce my hunger for power.
Your love alone is my power.
 
I confess
I want to manage what others think of me,
I want authority, status, belonging,
the kingdoms of the world.
I renounce my hunger for status.
You alone are my belonging
I confess
I want the security of freedom from pain,
from risk, from sacrifice,
as if I could leap from a height and be unhurt.
I renounce my fear of suffering.
You alone are my security.
 
Spirit of love,
be my power, my security, my belonging;
overwhelm the fears of my ego
and redirect my desires,
that I may trust you, belong to you,
and bear your love alone.
 
I breathe your love.
I breathe your love.

Amen.