I tried but I could not find a way
Roxy Music Re-Make/Re-Model
Looking back, all I did was look away
To come to an inner unity, totality and wholeness, every part of our self should be accepted and integrated. Christ represents the light in us. But Christ was crucified between two murderers and we cannot deny them, and certainly not the murderers who live in us.
Henri Nouwen
Hello everyone –
Before moving on to my blog post I would like to share some exciting news: my book, Experiencing Grace, is now available! It can be ordered through Amazon or Westbow Press (link below). I would like to thank everyone, especially my wife Jody, who helped make this book a reality.
Moving on…
Happy Lent!
Yes, it is that time of year again. The forty-day Lenten season began yesterday with Ash Wednesday. The reading appointed for Ash Wednesday is Psalm 51 in which David looks into the depths of his soul and doesn’t much care for what he finds. Accepting that he is steeped in sinfulness since the womb, that he is both an adulterer and a murderer, David implores God to give him a “clean heart.” During worship yesterday, as we read the psalm responsively, I was struck by the words of verse 6:
Indeed, you delight in truth deep within me and would have me know deep within.
Psalm 51:6
The truth, especially the truth of who we are inside, can be very difficult to face. It is so much easier to look away, to look at others’ sin, than to take a hard look at ourselves. What would happen if we embraced the truth about ourselves?
I am learning that in order to be who God created me to be I need to embrace every part of who I am, especially those parts that are not very appealing. For instance, I hold onto a great deal of anger and for years I would not only hide that anger from others, but also from myself. It was something that I refused to accept. Let’s just say that’s not a very healthy way to live because my anger is liable to come out at inappropriate times and in inappropriate ways. Little things can cause big explosions.
If I truly want health and healing, then I need to accept every part of who I am. Only then can I turn the healing over to God, only then can God transform my unfocused anger into something positive, such as a force for change.
Lent is a time to not look away, but to look within – deep within. It is there that you will find truth. It is there that you will find yourself. It is there that you will find God.
Peace.
To order Experiencing Grace from Westbow Press follow this link:
Divine Overtones 
I don’t like LENT.
The son of a friend of mine, when he was young, came in from playing and took a piece of candy. His mother reminded him that the family had “given up CHOCOLATE for lent”. He thought for a second and then responded “you can play that game, but I’m not going to play that game.”
God has told me that my confessed sin is gone to the depths of the sea. It makes me clean to come to God and offer worthy praise. I remember Jesus’ offering every Sunday during communion.
The disciples did not practice LENT maybe because we are washed whiter than snow but lent makes us crawl around in our sin again.
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