A clearing for Lent

A piece from Lent Eucharist March 1999, then used in Space March 2020.

Lent could be about making a clearing in our lives

so that the sun and the rain
can touch the soil of our being
and tempt the dormant seeds out of hiding.

What do you need to cut back
to make a clearing in your life?

What do you need to grow
in the clearing that you have made?

God waits for us in the clearing,

not like a lion waiting to attack us
if we let our guard down

not like a dominating parent
waiting to manipulate and control our lives

but like an old friend
who’s seen the worst of us and likes us anyway

with whom we can spend time
without having to pretend or explain

Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

God is patient, God is kind.

God does not envy, does not boast, is not proud.

God is not rude, is not self-seeking,
is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs.

God does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.

God always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.

God never fails.