Lenten Devotion for March 3

You Are With Me

by Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Holy One,

Light of my shadows and Way of my wandering,

you are the desert in whom I find myself;

you are the presence in whom, in solitude, I am not alone.

Walk with me into the wilderness of my sin.

Expose what is hidden that I need to see;

receive what is broken, that it may be healed;

forgive what is hurtful,

and bless what returns me to life.

By your grace may I find in my shadows your glorious image,

and in my broken heart your crucified Christ.

For you are my only power, my only security,

and the source of my truest self.

Gracious and Loving One,

I walk through a valley of shadows and death:

you are with me, and I trust you. Amen. 

Lenten Devotion for March 1

The way of the cross

by John Harvey

Jesus,

as we start once again

to follow you

on the way of the cross,

we are apprehensive.

For we are not sure

of ourselves.

On our journey

we have often been afraid,

often sought the safe options,

often fudged the sharp solution.

On our journey

we have often tried to hide

our real selves

from others,

from ourselves

and from you.

We, who dare to say

we are following you,

know how faltering are our footsteps,

how delicate our discipleships,

how feeble our faith.

Yet still you call us

by name

and invite us into your company

and onto your road.

So give us the courage

and the commitment we need:

help us to look out for one another on the road;

show us how we may share the duty

and the joy

of discipleship,

knowing that, in the end,

it is you who have blazed the trail,

you who accompany us all the way,

you who will meet us on the road,

and say our name. Amen

Lenten Devotion for February 29

Lead Us on Our Journey

by Ruth Harvey

God, our God,

you have called us to be a people

on the move;

traveling light,

dying to live,

ready to lose ourselves for the sake of the world.

You have called us to be a people

with a purpose;

traveling without a map,

traveling to where we are led,

sustained by your Spirit,

committed to the gospel for the hope of the world.

You have called us, your people,

to be the church.

But we are a church with problems:

too strong for the weak,

too staid for the young,

too respectable for the poor,

too divided for mission,

too obsessed with our own lives to think of the lives of others,

too unsure of our message to speak to the world.

Move us on our journey

from where we are to where you want us to go.

Open our eyes on the way

to the people of different cultures, continents and countries,

who can bring color to our lives.

Take us on our journey

from where we are to what you want us to be;

so that we become a community

where all are welcomed and no one is excluded,

all are valued and no one is made to feel inadequate,

all are forgiven and no one is ashamed to belong,

all are encouraged and no one is too hurt to come among us.

Lead us on our journey

from who we are to who you want us to be;

so that patience is built into us,

kindness is assumed in us,

gentleness is part of us,

compassion flows from us,

truth is second nature to us,

and the commitment of love is part of us.

Let us go gladly on the journey towards Easter –

the journey towards death and resurrection.

Let us journey in the peace and power of the Spirit.