Being Living Vessels for God

When your eyes are tired / the world is tired also.
When your vision has gone / no part of the world can find you.
Time to go into the dark / where the night has eyes
to recognize its own.
There you can be sure / you are not beyond love.
The dark will be your womb / tonight.
The night will give you a horizon / further than you can see.
You must learn one thing. / The world was made to be free in.
Give up all the other worlds / except the one to which you belong.
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness / to learn / anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive / is too small for you.
        —“Sweet Darkness”  by David Whyte

Inevitably, each of us faces ups and downs in our lives.  There are times when we may feel like we are on top of world.  We see blessings everywhere we look. The world seems drenched in light and love and possibility.  And then there are times when it’s hard to see beyond the pain of this very moment.  The world feels weighted and heavy—like our own hearts.  And it’s hard to move one foot in front of the other for fear or anxiety or stress.  We all face these times.  And these feelings are mirrored in the liturgical seasons of Epiphany and Lent.  Epiphany brings us the dazzling light of awakening and recognition of the Divine all around us.  And Lent sends us wandering in the wilderness of uncertainty and painful confusion.

But more than uncertainty and confusion, Lent is meant to prepare us.  As we wrestle with our own questions, insecurities, and doubts, it is a season that seeks to strengthen us, reassure us, and teach us what it means to live in God’s abiding presence and how to become living vessels for God.  In a world where there is so much heartache, Lent sends us on a journey toward joy and purpose.

As we gather together during this Lenten season, we will explore the theme Living Vessels for God.  We will talk about what brings us alive.  And we will imagine together what Living Vessels for God might mean and look like.  I certainly look forward to spending this time with you.

See you in church,
Christy