Dear Friends in Christ at Christus Victor,
We may know how to say grace (“Come Lord Jesus, be our guest…”). But do we know when we have received God’s grace, or are experiencing God’s Grace? Do we know how to pay attention to what God is doing and how God is present with us in our daily lives? When we hear other people’s stories of how they have experienced God’s Grace in their lives, it can help us to notice where and how we have actually been experiencing God’s Grace ourselves.
As we journey together through these Wednesdays in Lent toward Holy Week and Easter, let us take time each day to reflect on when we feel alive and awake, blessed and loved, or simply at peace, then thank God for being present in our lives (“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.” – John 15:9).
And when we feel out of sorts, agitated or frustrated, alone or addicted, then turn toward God and be honest about what’s going on and ask for God’s loving and healing presence (“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.” – Romans 8:26).
In the words of my spiritual director, “Christian spirituality is paying attention to God: listening and learning from the risen Christ through the Holy Spirit in us and among us. We respond to God by living out God’s love, call, will, desire, and passion in all areas of our life” (Listening to God, by John Ackerman).
May we all pay attention to God this Lent in preparation to celebrate Holy Week and Easter.
In Christ,
Pastor Kent Claussen Gubrud