Lenten Links
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This Week at St. James
Thursday, March 5 - Episcopal Church Women's Meeting @ 11 AM Grief Recovery Program @ 2 PM Friday, March 6 Yoga @ 4:30 PM Saturday, March 7 CCM Prep. Program@ 9AM Cincinnati Children's Choir @ 10 AM SUNDAY- DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BEGINS (Spring Forward an hour!) Sunday March 8 Bible Study @ 8:45 Chancel Choir Rehearsal @ 8:45 Holy Eucharist with the Great Litany @ 10:00 AM Children's Sunday School at 10:00 AM |
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| St. James Episcopal Church Westwood
Weekly Epistle - February 13, 2013
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Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" ( Matthew 4: 1-4) Read Sunday's Lessons here. Cravings can be a real pain. Anyone who has tried to quit smoking or give up some other unhealthy task understands that such an endeavor provokes a host of tumultuous manifestations. I was a horrible person for the first week or so while I was finally able to successfully quit smoking. It's be a 11 or 12 year old fast that's been more than worth the effort it has taken to achieve.
I was reading an article by Wayne Meisel. Meisel is a real expert when it comes to fasting. He's apparently given up all kinds of food during Lenten periods throughout his life: everything from ice cream to canned cream corn. This year he's saying no to lots of things including sugar, salt, meat, junk food, fast food, coffee, soda, and caffeine. He's not consuming any "adult beverages" either. I'm not quite sure what he's eating and drinking other than water and perhaps whole wheat bread. I, mean.... wow!
You should read the article for yourself but here's one part that caught my attention. Pastor Meisel writes:
"When you make the decision not to go down the path that you are so used to going, it stops you and forces you to look in another direction. And when I head in a different direction I eventually find myself at a fork in the road: one turn leads to self-pity and the other to self-discovery." (Meisel, March 4, 2014, para. 6)
If you're interested here's a "tracker" of what thousands of are setting aside this Lent. 1,330 people are giving up homework. Really?
I'd recommend a different direction. What is the homework God is offering to you this Lenten season? What is it deep down in your heart that God is secretly bidding you to let go of so that you can more fully become the person you are? Some of you may indeed elect to give something up like drinking alcohol, or consuming too much food during Lent. God love you!- ensure that you're trading in what it is you're disposing of for something better, something healthier, something more God-focused and people centered.
What truly is nourishing, from a Christian perspective, goes beyond what you eat or what you drink. It's there deep within your heart and it may very well not be something that you're presently craving. In fact, I'm willing to bet you'll have all kinds of cravings should you decide to discipline yourself in some Holy Spirit-led endeavor. Go for it! Consult your physician if you're planning on a fast of more than 12 hours or replacing time on the couch with time on the treadmill. Check in w/ Joyce or me if you'd like to try on a new spiritual practice or form of prayer. Whatever you decide spend time with Jesus Christ in the privacy of your prayer life and the wilderness of your faith. You'll find God there as sure as the next 40 days and nights of Lent occur.
Blessings Along The Way, Jim+
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Lenten Programs at St James
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Prayer, play, programming and more! Read all about what will be happening here during Lent on our special Lenten webpage.
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Springtime Music Series Premiers Soon
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St. James 2nd Annual Springtime Music Series begins on Sunday March 16th at 7:00 PM with an offering of Choral Evensong with the Chancel Choir. Learn more about the Series here.
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Share your Sacred Moments.
I took this photo of the ice drops on the trees right after sunrise a couple of mornings ago. It was a quiet moment in my car when God suddenly felt a lot closer than I was experiencing just a few minutes before. My eyes captured and reclaimed a sense of God-inspired Grace that I needed at that moment. It's not a great photo by any means but it was a very inspirational moment for me.
Perhaps this is the sort of moments Lent invites us to share in secret with God, and then perhaps with one another. Pray in secret with your father in the spacious room of your heart....and your father who is in secret will reward you. Store up treasures in heaven where the moths and robbers of life cannot claim what is more valuable to you. (Matthew 6: 17. 19) .
Should we be bold yet humble enough; let's share some such sacred moments with one another throughout Lent. Perhaps it will be a photo. Perhaps a poem. Perhaps a reflection upon scripture. E-mail me or post your Divine encounter on our parish Facebook page. Let's empty our closets through art, prayer, and beauty. Alms of a different essence.
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