Lent IV | To fast from Holding it all Together
“Why spend money for what isn’t food, and your earnings for what doesn’t satisfy.
Listen carefully to me and eat what is good; enjoy the richest of feasts.
Listen and come to me; listen, and you will live.
”
AN INVITATION TO FAST FROM HOLDING IT ALL TOGETHER…
In the face of grievous loss, do you bravely pull yourself together, carry on with life? In our armored efforts to keep sorrow from spilling into our days, you and I carry the burdens of blocked emotions: tightness, tension, pretense. Could there be another way to live with grief – sadness for ourselves, our loved ones, our world? Might we follow in the way of Jesus, who, upon the death of Lazarus was “greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved,” and wept along with his friends? (John 11:32-35)
… AND EMBRACE TENDERNESS AND VULNERABILITY
“Tears and weeping…bespeak a promise. In fact, they are the only way into the heart.” (John Chryssavgis) Ancient Christians spoke of the “gift of tears:” tears that express grief and tears that soften the defended places in our lives, places where we have turned from God. Through the gift of tears, our hardened shells are punctured, and we know more of who we are in Christ, free from false courage whenever we feel anxious or sad.
This fourth week of Lent, may we give way to vulnerability, to tenderness. If tears come, may they bathe us in God’s grace, recalling the promise: “You have collected all my tears in a bottle.” (Psalm 56:8)
God of our weeping,
Hold us in our times of loss, be with us as we give expression to our love.
Bathe us in the brine of healing, gather our tears in your vial, wash us clean.
When we reach for strength and resist our sorrow, be a sanctuary for us.
Show us the river of our sobs and the great sea of collective grief it meets.
Let wave upon wave carry us to the shores of your Love.
Remind us we are not alone in our sense of loss,
Sanctify our tender places, make holy our humanity.
Help us to know grief and joy as sisters,
How loss carves us out, making room one day for a newfound delight.(Christine Valters Paintner)
This reflection is adapted from A Different Kind of Fast: Feeding our True Hungers in Lent, Christine Valters Paintner.