Lent, wilderness, and the wild leadings of the Spirit

Our practicing community of churches came together for the second time on Zoom on February 26, on the first Sunday in Lent. The Gospel reading this morning was the story of The Spirit guiding Jesus into the wilderness immediately after his baptism. In his forty days of fasting, resisting, and wandering, Jesus is shaped and formed for his ministry. Similarly, through the wilderness of Lent, and together in our practicing community, we are being invited to surrender to the wild leadings of the Spirit and to be open, curious, ready to be shaped and sent!

Spirit Tracking - Steve and Tom invited us into the practice of having volunteers serve as Spirit trackers in each of out times together, which they modeled for us today. Volunteers each time will name, notice and celebrate, the Spirit’s presence and activity, in one or more of those domains.

  1. How the Spirit is showing up in you - How were you personally moved by the Spirit in this conversation?

  2. How the Spirit is showing up in others

  3. How the Spirit is showing up in our conversations - i.e. How did you sense Spirit moving the conversation in a particular way?

  4. How the Spirit is showing up in the harvest that is emerging.

Lectio Divina - Jeremiah 1:6-8

Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy,’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.”

Sharing

In preparation for this session, we had each been asked to answer in about 250 words, “Why is it important for you to make this pilgrimage at this moment in your life?” Each church shared one of those short essays.

In Session Exploration/ Practice                                                           

  • A Long, Loving, Look at the Real:

    • Long - a sustained gaze, taking unhurried time and focused attention

    • Loving - looking without judging, looking with compassion, with appreciation - even for the hard or unpleasant things, looking in relationship

    • Look at the real - focusing solely on that which we are contemplating and remaining open without the compulsion to “do” anything about it. Looking with all our senses available to us.

    • In our work together we will be taking a long, loving, look at the real through three lenses (ourselves, our neighborhoods, our churches)

  • Next steps of working on the Spiritual Autobiography - team members are asked to share them with your team leaders by March 12.

  • What practices will help you "stay together" as a team and with your congregation? How can we share what we are doing with our congregations?

    • Post your essays where the congregation can linger with them.

    • Plan your celebration of New Ministry

    • Include one of your essays as an announcement on Sunday Morning.

    • Host a Coffee Hour Q&A Session.

    • Invite your Vestry to join us on March 12th so they can see for themselves.

    • Share the recording of these sessions

Our pilgrimage through Lent

For the next 40 days... make space to wonder. What brings you life? Where do you find joy? Who is accompanying you? What other truths are being revealed to you? Are you open and and vulnerable enough to say "yes" to some invitations, even if you don't know where they will lead?

In support of your journey, you may wish to participate in some of the Contemplative Prayer sessions being offered by the diocese.

 
Meg Wagner