Lenten
Resolutions?
Read Psalm46
How are you
doing on your New Year’s Resolutions? By the beginning of February,
most of us have forgotten what we resolved to improve or change. At
the turn of this year, I became aware of MYONEWORD – a book and
concept by Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen. I love the simplicity of
this! Instead of a whole list of resolutions, you choose one word on
which to concentrate for the year. It should sum up your good
intentions and be easy to remember. Here are some examples: LEARN;
JOY; PRAY; CHANGE; HOPE. You get the idea. Since one word sums up the
kind of person we want to become, we can more easily keep it in sight
and mind. We can even paint the word on our wall, embroider it into
our wallet, or make it our screen-saver.
We can
select a word to take us through the whole year, or through the
season of Lent. I wonder what Jesus’s word would be? LOVE or FAITH
or GIVE or ENDURE or LIFE or JOURNEY? I would guess His word would be
LOVE, because He so wanted us to understand that God loves us and
that we must love each other. I truly believe it is why we are here
on Earth” to feel love, show love and receive love, even when we do
not deserve it. That sounds so simple, but it is so hard to do. We
often do not feel lovable, even when we want to love God and others.
So back to
my one word, which came to me immediately: BE. To me, this means to
develop and flesh out the gifts God has placed within me. Be loving,
be brave, be the best me that I can be. Also, be still and listen to
God. Watch what happens, look for God’s direction. Be faithful and
vigilant to that which is important. Be musical! Be smart! Be a
blessing to others. Be positive. Be quiet. Look around. Our lives are
such incredible gifts. Each one of you is so unique and special. Let
us BE during Lent and this year, exactly what God wants us to be.
If you have
a word for your year, I would love for you to share it with me. Maybe
we can remind each other as time goes by.
Dear God,
thank you for our lives and for our church, where we have daily
reminders of the persons you would like to be. Help us to be our best
selves and to always appreciate the wonderful present moment. Amen
Anne
Sullivan
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