Wednesday morning I woke up with a deep need for a revelation of grace.
I think that we walk around with fear and pain and anger and all sorts of things bound up and hidden in our hearts, even from ourselves. When the time is right, the waters start churning and those things come to the surface.
So it is with me. In the past few weeks I have become painfully aware, once again, of my need for a savior. I do not need to know that I am human and every body makes mistakes. I need to know, desperately, that I am forgiven…that I am being made new.
I did not remember until later that day that Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Lent is the liturgical season where we set aside 40 days to remember Jesus sacrifice for our sins and to repent in the context of His resurrection and grace. The season is actually 46 days long, because Sundays are not counted. They are still a celebration of the resurrection.
I believe God is wanting to spend time with me in stillness…so I am setting aside the first hour of every day, and I would like to invite you to join me. I will be going through the Litany of Penitence, one line a day, reading from scripture, and ending with a symbolic act of forgiveness to remind myself I am forgiven.
This morning I walked to the park and read from John 13:31-15:11, and then I thought about and journaled about the first line from the Litany: “Most holy and merciful Father.” I asked forgiveness for the times I have been unmerciful (already at the forefront of my mind), forgave others for not being merciful, and then asked Jesus to make me merciful. As I walked home, I washed my hands in the dew soaked grass as a sign that I am washed clean by Jesus.
Raindrops in the Ocean 