My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

~ Psalm 22

In A Clearing Season this week, the chapter focuses on weathering storms — those inevitable setbacks and disruptions to our spiritual growth.  The unexpected discouragement and frustration we sometimes feel in our journey with God.  Parsons reminds us that “setbacks are friends to faith,” for they teach us we need God.  She also writes, “Setbacks can cultivate true humility, the capacity to be one’s true self, [and] remind us of our glorious calling to be ourselves before God and the world.”  Whether you are in the midst of a storm right now or know with certainty as I do that you will find yourself tossed about in a sea of frustration and anguish in this life, I think it’s helpful to remember that Jesus experienced these setbacks, too.

We meditate this week on the story of our Lord’s Passion and wait in hopeful expectation outside the tomb, ready to rejoice in his Resurrection.  Sometimes the race to that great Alleluia seems rather rushed, though, as if come Palm Sunday we’ve got the cake frosted, the balloons up and the confetti in our hands — we’re all gathered and giggling ready to turn on the lights with that huge SURPRISE!  The anticipation is exciting, but in that sort of rush we miss out on the deeply transformative rituals and mysteries of Holy Week, so I invite you this week to slow down and contemplate Jesus’ life and ministry just a little longer.  Who was he?  How did he weather storms?  What can we learn from his humanity?  Continue reading Lent: weathering storms →