Again & Again, God Calls Us to Listen
Devotional Resources
for the Second Week of Lent
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Questions for personal reflection:
Recall a time you received a hard truth that, in Rev. Denise Anderson’s words, “troubled the waters” of your understanding and challenged your notions of what is real. How did you react? What led you to transformation or change?
Consider a time when you have been corrected—perhaps for speaking up about a difficult issue or naming a hard truth. How did you handle the criticism? In that situation, did you need to be corrected, or were you delivering a message that needed to be heard?
What messages are you hearing today that challenge you or your understanding about something? Are you being called to listen and realign your heart and understanding?
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Credits: The Again & Again theme and logo are thanks to the creators of A Sanctified Art. Art from the series used in this video includes Transfiguration by Laura Wright Pittman. The questions for reflection include the work of Rev. Denise Anderson.
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Psalm 22:1-5, 11, 19-24, 26-27, 30-31
My God! My God,
why have you left me all alone?
Why are you so far from saving me—
so far from my anguished groans?
My God, I cry out during the day,
but you don’t answer;
even at nighttime I don’t stop.
You are the holy one, enthroned.
You are Israel’s praise.
Our ancestors trusted you—
they trusted you and you rescued them;
they cried out to you and they were saved;
they trusted you and they weren’t ashamed.
Please don’t be far from me,
because trouble is near
and there’s no one to help.
But you, Lord! Don’t be far away!
You are my strength!
Come quick and help me!
Deliver me from the sword.
Deliver my life from the power of the dog.
Save me from the mouth of the lion.
From the horns of the wild oxen
you have answered me!
I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
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I will praise you in the very center of the congregation!
All of you who revere the Lord—praise him!
All of you who are Jacob’s descendants
honor him!
All of you who are all Israel’s offspring
stand in awe of him!
Because he didn’t despise or detest
the suffering of the one who suffered
he didn’t hide his face from me.
No, he listened when I cried out to him for help.
Let all those who are suffering eat and be full!
Let all who seek the Lord praise him!
I pray your hearts live forever!
Every part of the earth
will remember and come back to the Lord;
every family among all the nations will worship you.
Future descendants will serve him;
generations to come will be told about my Lord.
They will proclaim God’s righteousness
to those not yet born,
telling them what God has done.
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Psalm 22 is attributed to David and a reflects a particularly troubling time in his life. The opening words of the Psalm are also the ones Jesus cries as he prays in the garden before his arrest "my God, my God, why have you left me alone?"
Reflect on your relationship with God at this time. Is your prayer one of thanksgiving for God's presence/closeness or are longing to feel God's comfort and closeness?
This Psalm is surprising in that mid-verse the tone of the Psalmist turns from lament to joy. In one breath, the Psalmist prays for salvation and in the next joyously proclaims God has done it.
Consider those places in your life whee you long for God's assistance and those places where you are thankful for God's presence. Try breathing them into your own prayer in which you inhale praying for where you need God and as you exhale you give thanks for what God has already done in your life.
The Psalmist proclaims a promise to future generations, a promise of people being born into a time when the marvelous work of God will already be accomplished.
What is your prayer for the generations that follow you? What do you long to be accomplished or healed?
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The Truth that Ricochets
by Rev. Sarah Are
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I went to a lecture once—
An interfaith conversation with
interfaith leaders.
Whispers bounced off the
church’s tile floors
As people shuffled into place,
Carrying hope alongside
assumptions—
Mixed into pockets like loose change.
About halfway through the evening,
A young woman in a blue hijab
began speaking.
She was the youngest person on
the panel,
Seated far to the left. You might
almost miss her
If you weren’t paying attention;
But not here, not when she spoke.
In quiet determination she told us of
fear and persecution.
She told us of hatred and racial slurs,
Thrown at her people from car
windows like bombs.
It was a truth I did not know,
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And that truth ricocheted like sunlight
through the cathedral windows,
Touching almost everyone that day.
Then a man in the back, who could
have been me—
Who has been me—
Approached the microphone and said,
“Your people are persecuted. You
live in fear. You are battered
by hate.
If that is true, then why am I just
now hearing about it?
Why is your story not on the news?
Why have you not spoken up
about it?”
And the air was still, partly because
we held our breath in anticipation,
And partly because the Spirit slows
her dance when we stand at the
edge of truth.
The woman in the blue hijab leaned
into the microphone
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And whispered with a quiet strength
that can only come from years
of practice:
“We are screaming.”
If there is one truth in my life
That unfolds again and again,
It is the need to listen.
For again and again, I will try,
with good intentions,
To act and walk with love.
But again and again, I will
make mistakes.
Again and again, I will say the
wrong thing.
Again and again, they will call
me Peter,
And again and again, they will
be right.
So again and again,
I will pray for a truth that ricochets,
For ears that will listen,
And for space to hold truth.
If people are screaming,
And to be clear—
people are screaming—
I do not want to miss it.
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from A Sanctified Art Lenten Devotion, Again & Again |
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Spiritual Disciplines for the Week
Fasting & Slowing
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Fasting explained for Presbyterians by the Rev. Michelle Bartel from the article The Give and Take of Lent-Preparing our hearts for resurrection by the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
Lent is a Christian season of practice...It’s not a prescription for holiness, but an invitation to relationship.
One of the most common Lenten practices is fasting. This can mean giving up certain foods or habits . One of the questions we must ask is: Are we practicing the fast God calls for? Is it a fast that reminds us to love God and love neighbors as ourselves? Are we focused on God’s work and Jesus’ ministry to the poor, vulnerable, oppressed, sick and lonely? Are we practicing love, kindness, justice and mercy?
By fasting, we practice denying the self not just for the heck of it or to drop 10 pounds, but for the purpose of shifting our attention to Jesus. It’s a question of vision, of focus. Are our hearts curved in upon themselves, or are our hearts open to God?
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The practice of slowing.
Many people were coming and going, so there was no time to eat. He said to the apostles, “Come by yourselves to a secluded place and rest for a while. Mark 6:31
The spiritual discipline of slowing is about cultivating patience and moving closer to the call to sabbath.
It is practiced in the midst of everyday activities, but instead of hurrying through them, the call is to move slowly and pay attention.
In his book on Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People, John Ortberg writes, "Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. Hurry can destroy our souls. Hurry can keep us from living well….Again and again, as we pursue spiritual life, we must do battle with hurry. For many of us the great danger is not that we renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it. We will just skim our lives instead of actually living them. "
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Again and Again with Children |
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When You Are Brave by Pat Zietlow Miller
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Storypath by UPSem
" At the heart of this week’s passage is Jesus’ bravery. He is fully aware that his actions are upsetting those in power, and that they will likely put him to death. "
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"Even when Peter tries to dissuade him, Jesus knows the truth: “those who want to save their life will lose it.
Jesus knows he needs to be brave enough to risk his life to spread the Good News of God’s love. He needs to speak out, even if people will kill him for it. In Miller’s book, she highlights situations that can seem intimidating for a child: learning to swim, the first day of school, performing in front of a crowd. She also talks about how to find inner courage, like a light that glows from within. The light may be small at first, but we can help it to grow into a flame that radiates out, warming and encouraging us. " Rev. Joshua Andrzejewski, writing for Storypath Lectionary Links with UPSem."
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