Deliverance: Lent Daybook 14
Take a few deep breaths, settle your body, mind, and heart into a quiet space, and let’s begin with prayer.
Opening prayer: Heavenly Father, make me more like Jesus and more like the true self you’ve created as I savor your loving presence today. Please guide my thoughts and impressions by your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Look: Dark Red Sea, Emil Nolde - Source
Listen: Cello suite No.1 Prelude in G, Johann Sebastian Bach, Yo-Yo Ma - Spotify | YouTube
Read: Psalm 61-62; Psalm 68; Jeremiah 2:1-13; Romans 1:16-25; John 4:43-54
Excerpts:
“For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations! May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
So I will always sing praises to your name, as I pay my vows day after day.
*
For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.
Selah
*
The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord:
I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holy to the Lord, the first fruits of his harvest. All who ate of it were held guilty; disaster came upon them, says the Lord.
Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord:
What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me and went after worthless things and became worthless themselves? They did not say, “Where is the Lord, who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives? I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?” Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.
Therefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord, and I accuse your children’s children. …
Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked; be utterly desolate, says the Lord,
*
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and injustice of those who by their injustice suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. Ever since the creation of the world God’s eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been seen and understood through the things God has made. So they are without excuse, for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.
*
When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee (for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet’s own country). When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival, for they, too, had gone to the festival.
*
Let God rise up; let his enemies be scattered; let those who hate him flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, let the wicked perish before God. But let the righteous be joyful; let them exult before God; let them be jubilant with joy.
Sing to God; sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds—his name is the Lord—be exultant before him.
Father of orphans and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God gives the desolate a home to live in; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious live in a parched land.
O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness,
Selah
the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel. Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad; you restored your heritage when it languished; your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.
—Psalm 61:5 - 62:4; Jeremiah 2:1-9, 11-12; Romans 1:18-24; John 4:43-45; Psalm 68:1-10
Pray: A Body Prayer from Julian of Norwich (adapted from this source)
Read the brief introduction and then, knowing that you are held body, mind, and emotions in the presence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit hold each pose of the prayer for 1-2 minutes. You can pray this prayer from your bed, your exercise mat, or wherever you find yourself today.
“An interesting example of Christian body prayer comes from Julian of Norwich, who lived during the time of the plague in England in the 14th c. Julian experienced severe bodily pain when she was thirty years old, during which she received visions, which she later recorded in Revelations of Divine Love. Julian wrote, "The fruit and the purpose of prayer is to be "oned" with God in all things."
Julian's Body Prayer is comprised of four poses and intentions: Await, Allow, Accept, and Attend.
The first pose, Await, is a posture of receiving, held with cupped hands extended at the waist to receive the presence of God.
The second pose, Allow, is a posture of opening, reaching up with the hands open to the coming of God's presence.
The third pose, Accept, takes in whatever comes, standing with hands cupped at the heart, head bowed.
The final posture, Attend, is assumed with hands extended and palms open in willingness to act on what has been given.
Once you have completed each pose, consider signing the cross over your head and heart in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and go back into your day with peace.
Do: Fast emojis & social media symbols this week; feast on the language of lament and amazement instead.
Practices for the coming week
I’ve tried to suggest one practice a week that can fit along with whatever other fasts you may be undertaking this Lent. There’s merit in committing simply to one fast for the entire forty days, but sometimes we need a little help imagining what a fast can look like and how it might produce good fruit in our lives. Each week this Lent, I’ll share one specific suggestion for fasting one habit in order to feast on a corresponding practice. You might decide to stay with that fast for the entire forty days, or you might choose just one or two days to try what I’ve suggested.
This week we’ll fast replacement symbols for language - emojis and social media “likes” - and feast on the language of lament and amazement instead.
Pay attention, in particular, to the Psalms in each day’s post. Gather words of lament and amazement to use throughout the day. Consider the characters in the other Scripture passages each day. Pay attention to the verbal and non-verbal responses they use. You can even keep a thesaurus handy throughout the week. Whenever you’re tempted to use an emoji or social media symbol, stop and with gentle curiosity ask yourself the following questions:
Where does the need to do this come from? (
If this conversation was happening face to face, what is it I most want to say to this person?
If you discover that finding language (including silence and physical presence) especially difficult try this exercise:
Divide a piece of paper into four columns headed with the words “I’m sad with you”, “I’m amazed with you”, “I love this about you”, “I’m celebrating with you”. In each column write all the ways you know to convey each truth. Put this list where you can see it and revisit it. Intentionally use these worlds and phrases throughout the week.*
What do you notice about yourself and yourself and the way you relate to others in their experiences?
*Sunday Scripture readings are taken from Year A of the Book of Common Prayer 2019 (Anglican Church of North America). Daily Scripture readings are taken from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and include both Morning and Evening Psalms (Year 1).