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Ash Wednesday
Today is Ash Wednesday…what is it and should I participate? This day of repentance and returning, which for many in the Western church marks the beginning of Lent, the 40-day period of fasting before Easter following the example of our Lord who spent 40 days in the desert to fast and pray (Matthew 4:1-11). It is also known as the “Day of Ashes,” so called because on that day at church the faithful have their foreheads marked with ashes in the shape of a cross. In the Old Testament ashes were used for two purposes: as a sign of humility and mortality and as a sign of sorrow and repentance…
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Rest Amidst Stress
I took another drink of coffee and braced myself. After a week off on vacation, I knew the day would bring a flurry of emails, reports, errands, and chores. Have you ever noticed how much harder Monday feels after being away? In my mind, I started making my lists. But then my eyes settled onto these familiar words: "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" (Ps. 46:10). I've read those words—even memorized them—countless times before. But now I needed to know what they meant. Was God really calling me to sit while life swirled? I…
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Scrambled Souls and SILENCE – An Accessible Addiction
Eleven years ago this fall I was invited to go on a “silent retreat”, the kind where you literally do not speak during the time period for silence. This particular one was for 36 hours. Some of my friends were incredulous. “How can a group of women be silent for that long, for any amount of time?” One of my relatives emailed me and asked, “Just what does one do on a silent retreat, like – what’s the purpose?” One colleague even ventured to look at me as if to say, “YOU, silent?” Until this first silent retreat I had not experienced the phenomenon of stopping to enter into silence…
