It's Lent

Cure your children's warring madness;

bend our pride to your control;

shame our wanton, selfish gladness,

rich in things and poor in soul.

Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,

lest we miss your kingdom's goal,

lest we miss your kingdom's goal.

Just when you thought it was safe to return to this blog...

Just when you thought, "Oh Wes will totally post something more uplifting this time."

Just when you thought, "Lent is about as exciting as a root canal."

We get this verse.

Which is good because we cannot think that one day of naming our wounds/wants/where it hurts and everything will be magically better.

I don't know about you, but my shadow side does not, "go gently into that good night."  My shadow side really likes its power and position.  My shadow side keeps finding evidence to divide the world into people like me and those people.  My shadow side keeps interrupting and disrupting the ways I long to live the love ethic of Christ. 

I appreciate that this hymn didn't just give us one verse to explore our shadow side but two back-to-back verse that cause to dive deeper if we are willing to listen.

We are a people who prefer violence to peace; winning to love; political point scoring to seeing all people as beloved child.  We love the quick profit and the growing bank balance.  We love to consume words and shiny technology and just keep skimming the surface of life.  When you get bored standing in line for two  minutes, your phone can rescue you with a distraction.  

Or to quote the hymn above, Lest we miss your kingdom's goal.

The kingdom's goal described in the Lord's Prayer as where all receive bread; where forgiveness is all our work; where we have a life giving relationship with God.  The kingdom's goal that would listen to God's first testament of creation and see leaves/trees/bugs/air as valuable as the person before us.  The kingdom's goal that would see the Beatitudes not as good advice, but good news that can challenge us to the core.  

How would you describe the kingdom's goal?

How do we all miss that?

I pray you will continue to let these words work in your hearts/minds/lives.  And I pray you will be surrounded by more than a trace of God's grace.

Blessings ~~