Day 22 of Lent :: Take up your Cross

“Whoever wants to be my disciple

must deny himself and take up his cross
and follow Me.”
Matthew 16:24

“There will always be many who love Christ’s heavenly kingdom, but few who will bear his cross,” wrote Thomas à Kempis in his 15th century classic, Imitation of Christ. “Jesus has many who desire consolation, but few who care for adversity. He finds many to share his table, but few who will join him in fasting. Many are eager to be happy with him; few wish to suffer anything for him. Many will follow him as far as the breaking of bread, but few will remain to drink from his passion. Many are awed by his miracles, few accept the shame of his cross.

Many love Christ as long as they encounter no hardship; many praise and bless him as long as they receive some comfort from him. But if Jesus hides himself and leaves them for a while, they either start complaining or become dejected. Those, on the contrary, who love him for his own sake and not for any comfort of their own, praise him both in trial and anguish of heart as well as in the bliss of consolation. Even if Jesus should never comfort them, they would continue to praise and thank him.

What power there is in a pure love for Jesus
– love that is free from all self-interest and self-love!

When you get to the point where, for Christ’s sake, suffering becomes sweet, consider yourself fortunate, for you have found paradise on earth. But as long as adversity irks you, as long as you try to avoid suffering, you will be discontent and ill at ease. Realize that to know Christ you must lead a dying life. The more you die to yourself, the more you will live unto God. You will never enjoy heavenly things unless you are ready to suffer hardship for Christ. Nothing is more acceptable to God, nothing more helpful for you on this earth. When there is a choice to be made, take the narrow way. This alone will make you more like Christ.”*

Action: Choose (or make) a cross to wear or carry with you during the next days of Lent. Let it be always a sign of solidarity with Jesus rather than mere decoration.

*Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ.

Day 21 of Lent :: Followers

“Come, Follow Me.”

Jesus

The Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard, penned the following penetrating words in the 1800’s. It is well known that Christ consistently used the expression “follower.” He never asks for admirers, worshippers, or adherents. No, he calls disciples. It is not adherents of a teaching but followers of a life Christ is looking for.

What then, is the difference between an admirer and a follower? A follower is or strives to be what he admires. An admirer, however, keeps himself personally detached. He fails to see that what is admired involves a claim upon him, and thus he fails to be or strive to be what he admires.*

Refection: On a piece of paper or in your journal, make two columns. On the one side, list out words and actions that describe a “follower.” On the other side create a list depicting an “admirer.”

Prayer: Pray through your two lists. Asking God to give you the resolve to live more as a follower than admirer.

Action: Carry out some “giving” actions. Clean out your closets and donate clean and wearable clothing to a charitable organization. Do a favor for a neighbor.

“We say we want to forget the world,
but in the depths of our hearts we

do not want to be forgotten by it.”**

Francois Fenelon

*Charles E. Moore, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard, 85.
**Francois Fenelon, The Complete Fenelon, 199.

Day 20 of Lent :: In the Vine

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,
while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be
even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have
spoken to you. Remain in me,
as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself;
it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you
remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches.
If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart
from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:1-5

Jesus describes the intimacy that he offers as the connectedness between the vine and its branches. I long to be grafted into Jesus as a branch is grafted into the vine, so that all my life comes from the vine. In communion with Jesus, the Vine, my little life can grow and bear fruit. I know it, but I do not live it. Somehow, I keep living as if there are other sources of life that I must explore outside of Jesus. But Jesus keeps saying, “Come back to me, give me all your burdens, all your worries, fears, and anxieties. Trust that with me you will find rest.”*

Prayer: God, You are good and generous. Teach me how to celebrate life’s pains and sorrows so that I can discover in them a deeper love of you and a stronger hope in your promises. Let me see loss and failure not as setbacks, but as opportunities for a more fruitful life. May you always abide in me.

Action: Review a past sorrow and find in it one positive outcome. Discipline yourself to show gratitude throughout this day on at least several occasions. Look in the smallest corners for opportunities to nurture a thankful heart.**

*Henri Nouwen, Sabbatical Journey, 165.
**Judy Bauer, Lent and Easter, 21.

Day 19 of Lent :: The True Self

“See, I have engraved you
on the palms of my hands.”

Isaiah 49:16

Each of us has been created uniquely. This is one of God’s gift to us. However, somewhere along the way, life has taught us that the true self wasn’t welcome or safe or wanted. Before long, we became quite apt at hiding the true self. As we looked at earlier this week, the false self strives to patch-work an identity together from secondary things such as: reputation, success, status, family, jobs, health. But “an identity based on such things,” Calhoun reminds us, “is rooted in idols.”

Our truest identity can never be something we accomplish, earn or prove on our own. It is a gift we receive from Jesus. It is not something we earn through performance; it is what we are given. Scripture tells us that we are:

• Chosen (John 15:16)
• Beloved children of God (1 John 3:1)
• Friends of Jesus (John 15:15)
• The Temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16)
• God’s work of art (Ephesians 2:10)
• Fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)
  

This is one’s truest self. In the presence of Christ we lay down the weight of having to manage an image. Francis de Sales writes in his Treatise on the Love of God, “No one can perfectly love God unless he gives up his affections for perishable things…Our free will is never so free as when it is a slave to God’s will, just as it is never so servile as when it serves our own will.” Detaching from the false self and idols of our hearts can be a painful process. But God’s Spirit of truth longs to help us detach from the lies that shape us. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit bears witness to the truth of our belovedness and our Christ-in-me-identity. ”*

Reflection: Spend some time reflecting and praying through how Scriptures defines our identity in Christ.

What are some of the phrases that have defined your false self (things that you have believed about yourself that are not true)?

In what areas is God re-defining your understanding of who you are?

Suppose next to your “name,” that is written in His hand, were other words that God uses to describe who you are. What would those “names” be? Write them down.

*Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, 89-90.

Day 18 of Lent :: Self Transformation

“Be transformed…”

Romans 12:2

Lent is a journey, a season of transformation. The tendency within humanity is to somehow begin to believe that we can, in and of ourselves, change ourselves. This often leads to one of two outcomes: pride or despair. Ultimately, we can do very little, if anything, to change ourselves. We can, however, bring our whole selves to Christ: fears, doubts, struggles, wounds, accomplishments, strengths and pride – everything.

Before Christ, we bow down and at His feet lay all our stuff, the good, the bad and the ugly. Before Him we are reminded that even though we can’t make ourselves different, He can. In fact, Jesus came to give us a new heart, a new spirit, a new mind. In His presence, as we lay down all of who we are, we find rest, we wait, and in some mysterious way, we are transformed by his love…

The Apostle Paul said,

“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
Romans 8:28-32

Action: See yourself coming before Christ. With you, bring all your stuff – everything. Imagine it all in your hands. Kneel down before Christ and place it all before Him. Give it to Him… Then, remain in that position with open hands – waiting, resting, being, worshipping…

Look for brief moments throughout your day – on break, at stop lights, in line at a store – to find yourself back in this place, before Him… with Him.

“Think often on God, by day, by night, in your business and even in your diversions. He is always near you and with you;
leave him not alone.”

Brother Lawrance

Day 17 of Lent :: The False Self

“God is at home.
It is we who have gone out for a walk.”
Meister Eckhart

“It’s easy to lose touch with who we are and become obsessed with what we are not,” writes Albert Haase, in his book, Come Home to Your True Self, he continues, We become alienated from our very selves as we develop bad habits that verge on addictions…

We become so consumed with our careers and roles that we end up defining ourselves by what we do…

In our journey away from the God-intended true self, an interdependent person living with the awareness of the Presence in the present moment, we have constructed a false self, which makes us forget who we really are and where we truly belong. The false self is obsessed with “me.” Indeed, our stuffed lives are like the bloated stomachs of starving children. They betray our hunger, not our satisfaction. And thus begins our obsession with what we have, what we do, and what people think of us. Unfortunately, it often takes us the better part of our lives to discover that things found in shopping malls, places of honor and short-lived infatuations cannot fill the hole in the heart.

The spiritual journey is a journey back to one’s true self. Coming home is about leaving the pigpen of empty attractions and avoidances and coming back to the Presence in the present moment. It is about returning to where God placed me in the very beginning.*

Reflection: Read Luke 15:11-32. Are there ways in which you are still out for “a walk” and not yet found your place “at home” in your Father’s house?


*Albert Haase, Coming Home to Your True Self: Leaving the Emptiness of False Attractions, 37, 39, 51

Fasting Focus :: Third Week of Lent

Third Week of Lent :: Source

Sweets, Treats, and Self Indulgence

This week, our reflections will be looking at “From where we draw our source of life?”

As a fasting discipine this week, resolve to spend nothing on yourself, except that which is absolutely necessary. Buy no new clothes or gadgets, books or music. Don’t go to the movies or buy coffee or candy. Eat cheaply, save money, or give what you would have spent on coffee, treats and entertainment for the week to someone in need.

Keep journal entries of what happens inside you when you deny yourself something you’ve become accustomed to or something you really want. How does it affect you? Why?

What does this teach you about where you draw your life source?