Coming to God

Dear Beautiful Savior,

We have just come to the early days of Lent. I want to share with you a poem by Mary Oliver that captures our beginnings into this season.

Coming to God: First Days

Lord, what shall I do that I can’t quiet myself?

Here is the bread, and here is the cup, and

I can’t quiet myself

To enter the language of transformation!

To learn the importance of stillness,

with one’s hands folded!

When will my eyes of rejoicing turn peaceful?

When will my joyful feet grow still?

When will my heart stop its prancing

as over the summer grass?

Lord, I would run for you, loving the miles for your sake.

I would climb the highest tree

to be that much closer.

Lord, I will learn also to kneel down

into the world of the invisible,

the inscrutable and the everlasting.

Then I will move no more than the leaves of a tree

on a day of no wind,

bathed in light,

like the wanderer who has come home at last

and kneels in peace, done with all unnecessary things;

every motion; even words.

Building bridges to contemplative living means living more deeply in Christ. Week one of Lent reminds us to remember our baptismal covenant daily so we can respond to our neighbor’s needs should they arise. Also, this week calls us to be disciplined in order to grow more deeply in experience, awareness, and understanding. Our higher disciplined lives our not lived in pursuit of more and more stuff but in service to others. This Lent ask, in what ways do you discipline yourself in your life and why?