Rocks

Sometimes in the desert of our inner landscape, we hit some rocky terrain.
I think Lent was made for rocks along the road.
I got a bit detoured from the path that I thought I was supposed to be on this week –
rerouted as my GPS loves to do when I am not obedient to the prescribed directions.

Stuck in my own definition of what the path looks like–
and suddenly there is a boulder of “not my way” that blinds me from the “why”
Fortunately, I have a team of creative cohorts who love to remind me that I am stuck
and that there is a solution if I can look beyond my Edging God Out (EGO) to something bigger

I think it’s the stuff of Lent
Not the “suddenly Jesus woke up and knew that he could heal, lead and change water into wine”
but the real stuff of the ways he grieved for his cousin John and the absence of his father, Joseph
and that he was just plain hungry in the middle of the desert…
You know — the messes and miles of mistakes and misunderstandings
where the forgiveness we have to begin with happens within ourselves

There are rocks that we carry from the miles we have walked
the wars that we keep going with memories of “it wasn’t fair” and “it’s your fault”
There are mountains we walk around without seeing that there is a path through
while we lose track of the sun that streams through– breaking open
the exact lesson that we need to learn

Lent means making space — for the hole in the soul
for the prophet who speaks what we don’t want to hear.
There is clutter to clear away, there are rocks to be collected
and empty space to be tolerated…
in this place called Lent

The rocks become the reservoir of new ways of thinking
and boulders become the beacons of light,
while mountains become molehills as we stop trying to ignore them;
finding ways to be “teachable” and willing to consider that I might be – you might be the one
who is no longer a bystander, but is available to be changed by the Healer.

It’s Friday in Lent
and I am glad to have had your walking stick to lean on this week,
in the company of those who refuse to see only the shadow I cast
but instead reflect the light.

Catch you on Saturday – time to declutter the stockpile of reasons we can’t
Let’s “March”

See you soon,
Bridget