2021 Lenten Reflections
Introduction
Wednesday
February 17
Thursday
February 18
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The idea of taking on a 10-session curriculum that brought to life long-ago history and conflict was not necessarily something any of us wanted to do. But the idea of creating sacred ground, through our stories and from our history seemed promising. We could try.
Ash Wednesday
Imagine what it might look like to “repair the breach” of our nation’s history of racial injustice. How would things be different?
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Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Have you ever been saved by hope? What causes you to despair right now? How can you move from despair to hope? What do you hope for?
Friday
February 19
Sunday, February 21
Friday
February 19
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Friday after Ash Wednesday
How do you choose to respond to injustices you see? How can you become part of God’s healing work?
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First Sunday in Lent
What chaos, confusion or disorder are you experiencing as it relates to race or injustice? Offer them to God in prayer.
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
How can we step into the past in order to repair it? What does repentance mean to you in your life right now?
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Sunday, February 21
Sunday, February 21
Sunday, February 21
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Monday in the First Week of Lent
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I believe that “the slow work of God'' is in continued education and reflection
Tuesday in the First Week of Lent
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How is the Holy Spirit guiding you to pay attention to racism? What is stirring in you?
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Wednesday in the First Week of Lent
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The question at hand is, what do we do with this information? Where do we go from here? How does a white church in Ruxton respond to this knowledge? How do we become the beloved community?
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Sunday, February 21
Sunday, February 21
Sunday, February 21
Thursday in the First Week of Lent
Can you think of a time when implicit bias affected your perception of another person? What information was missing that caused you to form a false impression? Have you ever been misunderstood because of someone else’s implicit bias? How did that feel?
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Friday in the First Week of Lent
A smile or a tear has no nationality; joy and sorrow speak alike to all nations, and they, above all the confusion of tongues, proclaim the brotherhood of man.
-Frederick Douglass
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Saturday in the First Week of Lent
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Have you ever learned new aspects of history that have challenged your previous understandings? How are you being invited to consider new perspectives about the American Dream?
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Sunday, February 21
Sunday, February 21
Sunday, February 21
Second Sunday in Lent
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Bodhisattva Prayer For Humanity
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Monday in the Second Week of Lent
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What is your prayer today? Do you need patience? Do you need order? Do you need hope? Write a prayer using Howard Thurman’s approach.
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Tuesday in the Second Week of Lent
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What grief are you carrying? How can you become part of the healing process for yourself and others? Bring it before the Great Healer.
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Sunday, February 21
Sunday, February 21
Sunday, February 21
Wednesday in the Second Week of Lent
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If both of your parents are white, imagine just one of them being a person of color. How might that have changed your life experience?
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Thursday in the Second Week of Lent
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When have you experienced being part of a beloved community?
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Friday the Second Week of Lent
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How can you be brave enough to be the light today?
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Sunday, February 21
Sunday, February 21
Sunday, February 21
Saturday the Second Week of Lent
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How has the pandemic opened your eyes to what’s important? What experiences have “widened the narrowness of your life” to make room for love, understanding, courage, and healing?
Third Sunday in Lent
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Have you ever experienced being the stranger? Who welcomed you and how did they do that? Where and when in your life have you welcomed the stranger? How did that make you feel?
Monday in the Third Week of Lent
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O Great Spirit, help me always to speak the truth quietly, to listen with an open mind when others speak and to remember the peace that may be found in silence.
– Cherokee Prayer
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Tuesday in the Third Week of Lent
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How are you part of the ministry of reconciliation? Is God inviting you into this work in a new way?
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Wednesday in the Third Week of Lent
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Every single time, I try told hold space
For the untold stories, the incomplete histories,
The identities of those who were in the very same place,
But because of their race-
So much life was erased.
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Thursday in the Third Week of Lent
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Trauma can have profound effects across multiple generations. How does this knowledge inform your feelings abut racial justice?
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Friday in the Third Week of Lent
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How is our church called to challenge the status quo? What is the meaning of the gospel in these troubled times?
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Saturday in the Third Week of Lent
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What small thing can you do today to uphold the universal human rights of men, women, and children?
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Fourth Sunday in Lent
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When have you moved beyond the comfortable into genuine communion? What other opportunities do you have to build on that experience?
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Monday in the Fourth Week of Lent
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Read this poem several times, paying attention to the words or phrases that seem to stand out to you. Is there an invitation or stirring as you consider these words? Bring them into your prayer today.
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Tuesday in the Fourth Week of Lent
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What is happening now that you can open the eyes of your heart to?
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Wednesday in the Fourth Week of Lent
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Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. (John 14:27)
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Thursday in the Fourth Week of Lent
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Think about major social, political, pop culture events that happened during your formative years. How did they affect your life? How did they influence your beliefs?
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Friday in the Fourth Week of Lent
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Think of a time when you have witnessed or experienced agape love. Describe the experience.
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Fifth Sunday in Lent
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O God of grace and glory, we remember before you this day all those who have died in the past year.
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Wednesday in the Fifth Week of Lent
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What spiritual practices open your heart, helping you to stretch and grow? Is there a new spiritual practice that you can commit to?
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Monday in the Fifth Week of Lent
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What subtle prejudices are you aware of in your own life? What about in the life of the church? Reflect on your own experiences.
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Thursday in the Fifth Week of Lent
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How do you experience the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, at work teaching and healing? Give thanks.
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Saturday in the Fifth Week of Lent
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For the sake of thy Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in thy will, and walk in thy ways, to the glory of thy Name.
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Sunday of the Passion, Palm Sunday
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Recall a time when you witnessed someone treat another person as less than human. How did that make you feel? Pray for the people, the communities, and the world who are suffering from a lack of compassion.
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Saturday in the Fourth Week of Lent
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Where do you feel called to shine a light for greater understanding? How will you do that?
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Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Lent
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What is your greatest hope for the world you will leave to the next generation? What can you do to help realize that dream?
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Friday in the Fifth Week of Lent
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In what ways can Church of the Good Shepherd do a better job of letting theology shape our sociology?
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