Lenten Reflections Week Four

A Meditation for the Fourth Week of Lent

Do these three things and you will be united with God: rejoice always, pray constantly, and no matter what the circumstances give thanks.       - Abba Benjamin
Prayer of the Week: 
Day by day, dear Lord, of Thee three things I pray:
            to see thee more clearly,
                        love thee more dearly,
                                    follow thee more nearly,
                                             day by day.        - Richard of Chichester
Theme of the Week: 
What will satisfy me and yet leave me open to more?
[Robert J. Wicks Crossing the Desert]
Each day, give yourself at least one of these foods for the soul:
            Gratitude
            Simplicity
            A listening spirit
            Appreciation for your vulnerability
            Scripture
            Prayer
            Accomplishment is not the goal, faithfulness is. [Wicks, p, 83]
Spiritual Practice: Solitude
            Solitude is not anti-social.
            Solitude is being in the space of our “peaceful worthwhileness.”
             Be at peace, and thousands around you will be saved.       [Seraphim of Sarov]

​The Sayings of Abba Poemen:  Eternal Wisdom from the Desert, ed. Henry Carrigan, Jr.
The name “poemen” means “shepherd," and the sayings attributed to this monk (who died in about 449) constitute the core of what we call the desert teachings:
Teach your heart to guard what your tongue teaches.
Teach your mouth to say that which you have in your heart.
If you are silent, you will have peace wherever you live

A person who teaches without doing what he teaches is like a spring that cleanses and gives drink to everyone, but is not able to purify itself.

A person may seem to be silent, but if he condemns others in his heart he is babbling ceaselessly. But there may be another person who talks from morning until night, and yet he is truly silent; that is, he says nothing that is not profitable.
 
Watchfulness, self-knowledge, and discernment: 
These are the guides of the soul.

A Prayer from Sunday School:  from Rachel Carpenter
This week we are looking at what Jesus teaches about worry in Matthew 6:31-33.  As part of our teaching, I want to emphasize the fact that we have to trust God to take care of our worries and that sometimes that means that we intentionally have to give them to Him and ask Him to help us.  It seems to work better with our children if they pray in a tactile way so we need something that involves a deliberate action of release.  What better than bubble wrap!!
 
Bible verse: Matthew 6:31-33
31 Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 All the people who don’t know God keep trying to get these things. And your Father in heaven knows that you need them. 33 The thing you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what God wants. Then all these other things you need will be given to you. 
Prayer Activity:   God loves you and wants to take care of you.  Tell God something you are worried about and ask Him to help you.  Burst one of the bubbles as a sign that you are giving your worry to God.   *****If you don't have bubble wrap, make bubbles in the sink and pop a bubble with your finger as you tell God about your worry.
On Sunday March 22nd we learned how to let Jesus push fear out of our hearts.  Here is a link to our lesson: