Lent goes on...

Above all,

love one another deeply, for love covers over a multitude of sins...

I Peter 4:8

Dear Friends,

          I hope this season is blessing you. I am experiencing the joy of a different kind of silent prayer than I usually practice, following a path offered by Martin Smith in his book Season for the Spirit.        

          For the past couple of weeks, Smith has been leading us in a process of prayer that is full of surprises—some welcome, some more difficult to celebrate. The encounter is with some of our inner selves, among them our desiring, erotic self, our child selves—both wounded and of glory--and our selves that carry prejudices or grief. He proposes (as do others who speak of the self) that we are made up of many selves that impact how we live. It being the fourth week of Lent, there are more to come!

          Some trip me up in my life, and I resist getting into deep contact with them. These hold attitudes that raise fear, shame, or the risk of harm to others and myself if I let them run the show. The hope is that as I pray I may “experience in the meditation the way [each] part of [myself] is enfolded in the love of God.” No harshness or judgement are implied, but a way of self-knowledge and self-compassion. 

          The point of this path is knowing more deeply that in Christ all things are redeemed, and that nothing will separate us from the love of God. Our awe and gratitude for this egg us on to “grow in love…to learn from the Spirit how to “rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:15) 

          A retreat place that I have been part of for some years teaches that “More than anything else, we want to love and be loved.” Jesus says that this love is the heart of the abundant life that he promises, and of our lives as people who are first loved  by our infinitely compassionate God.

         An adage I remember is “No one gets to the end of life and wishes they worked more, but many do wish that they loved more.” Lent is about being mindful of mortality, too, and that our time to love here is limited. Let’s not miss any!

         May we welcome our many selves as we move toward the Passion, living Christ’s self-offering on the cross and the glory of his rising. May we grow in compassion for all the selves we encounter in each other and ourselves. And may our journey during this season increase our capacity to love above all.

In Christ’s love and mine,

E, for the Companions

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

(Collect for the 5th Sunday of Lent, Book of Common Prayer

How Shall I live? Live welcoming all. Mechtild of Magdeburg

This is the week that the Companions turn the corner toward the Passion in our daily prayers. We follow the St. Helena's Breviary, a wonderful inclusive language monastic form of the Divine Office (the name for the daily round of prayers many religious communities pray). The hymns and other elements of the prayers shift toward those that are used by the Church for the Great Three Days (Triduum) during which we live the last days of Jesus, his crucifixion and resurrection.

I love that for the Anglican tradition this is not a memorial, and that these days during which Jesus gave us the awesome gift of himself in the Eucharist and his very life are lived by those who worship. We are there, with him.

It is as if we suspend knowledge of the resurrection for those days, immersing ourselves in the last days of his life and participating in the ways our spirits move of to participate and relate.

They are the most difficult, powerful and glorious liturgies of the Church Year. I cannot truly receive the power of Easter--of Christ's rising--if I do not accompany him through the cross, as much as I struggle to take in the suffering and death.

It is important for me to know that the early church didn't separate these liturgies. They were one. It is a profound movement, a flow. If it is your practice to participate by attending worship Thursday through Sunday, I pray your blessing. If it isn't, and the Christian way is your chosen path, I urge you to give yourself that gift this year. Whether you do or not, I pray for your blessing as well.

May we go deep as Lent continues and through those Holy Days, and soar with Christ's rising!

Join the Companions for

Coffee Table Communion:

Communing with the Scriptures and Each Other

Come for rousing conversation about the coming Sunday's Readings and for prayers

Fridays at 9:00 a.m. online

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Late winter morning at the Companionary

Community News

Tomorrow is the first reading of a series of readings locally and more far flung. Please pray for this ministry of the Companions, and for Shane as she fulfills her desire to serve through offering her story. It will be live streamed on FaceBook tomorrow, March 16, at 2:30 p.m. EDT, and available as a recording thereafter.

We had our Lent Contemplative Days, three silent days for prayer and reflection, earlier this month. Our monastic life allows us the privilege of these days quarterly. The end of winter brought rain, rain and more rain, so mostly we were inside (though E braved a walk to the river one day, sheltered by an umbrella). They are different each time, and for each of us. Restlessness intervenes some times, and the silence can feel very long. Other retreats bring sweet, quiet and restful prayer. And sometimes the Spirit leads us into shadowy places that bring memories that need healing or awareness of places in our lives, relationships, and behaviors that call for repentance. Whatever transpires, we are blessed and wouldn't give them up.

The house is a little too quiet and still sometimes--even when we're talking--as we continue to miss our feline companion, Shadow, who died this past summer. There is no one to whisper to in the silence. Occasionally it is as if we see her around the corner. Now and then as we come home we are surprised by the sadness that she isn't waiting at the door. She was a relatively doggy cat and a big presence. We finally scattered her ashes in her favorite field about a few weeks ago. We were truly blessed by this wonderful four legged person. (No new cats in the offing, if you're wondering

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