Wednesday, March 23, 2005

wow

i'm stunned.

i've had just about the worst week i've had in a very long time and one of the only bright spots i've had has been this space. i rush home to see what else you all have to say and i admit being convicted by and inspired with all that's been discussed. you all are spiffing. really. spiffing.

and, to jesus chick - thanks for your graciousness. i appreciate how you've helped push my thinking and searching.
...
a little note on holy week...i haven't been too cognizant of the significance this week, i'm sad to say. i've been wrapped up in my own crappy situation at work, worried about my future (i just quit a cushy job to do something more relevant and now i'm worrying about, of all things, material stuff) and so my mind has not been on the Christ's suffering or our redemption because of it.

my inattention eats at me. there's a voice saying 'slow down. be still. think of Me.' and, like the petulant girl i am, i chafe at that voice.

let's hope i finally turn my self toward that voice this week.

happy easter, everyone.

7 comments:

LutheranChik said...

I'll tell you what someone once told me: That during this season we're closest to Christ not when we keep Lent fastidiously, but when we fail. It's when we've blown it in some way, when we're face down in the road breathing in the dirt that we meet the Christ who stumbled more than once under the weight of his own cross. I've had to remind myself of this truth during my own un-stellar Lenten observance this year.

Xpatriated Texan said...

I grew up in a denomination that did not observe Lent and only cast the barest acknowledgement of Easter. The reason was simple - Holy Week is just a time on a calendar. For a Christian, who lives as an adopted child of God, every week is Holy. We live the Resurrection every day of our life.

Jesus defended his disciple's party attitude by saying, "The bride cannot grieve in the presence of the bridegroom." As Christians, Christ is always with us. There is no reason, as far as I am concerned, to consider any time of year more holy than the next. There is certainly no need to feel any guilt for ensuring that bills are paid.

Relax. Forgive yourself. Give yourself a few minutes to sit in the lap of Jesus and feel his love.

XT

Unknown said...

xtex, you might appreciate the story on my blog this morning.
http://msongbird.blogspot.com
I also grew up without Lent, thought it was the weird thing my Episcopal friends did! Some years it speaks to me more than others. These calendars are human inventions and are useful but not foolproof.

Delia Christina said...

it's funny. i also grew up in a denomination that had no church calendar. (lenten devotion, wha? huh?)

but when i started going to church away from my family, i began to feel comforted with the regularity of the calendar. i first started going to an episcopalian church (ashamed to say only because it was across the street from my grad student apartment and i could roll in at the last minute!!) and the big candle burning down was sorta neat. it made me focus.

(ding needs all the focus she can get.)

when i go to my dad's church, the loosy-goosy services make me feel a little dizzy.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I need the focus of the calendar too. During Lent my church does vespers on Wednesdays, and I find them very special. Not sure it would be the same if we did it year-round.

I am lovin' your blog.

Happy Easter Churchgal!

Delia Christina said...

being such a recovering aouthern baptist, at first all the ceremony made me snicker. but then, it all became meditative. saying the same words, acting as one during worship - it made me realize that we are a *community* of faith.

as much as i love thinking about my childhood in little olivet baptist church, i can't help thinking now that most of our problems as a congregation probably stemmed from dysfunctional rampant psychotic individualism.

Delia Christina said...

oh, and thanks for stopping by, greg!