An Invitation to Simplicity

Rev. Jeanne Randall-Bodman

Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well,
but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for.
~ Seamus Heaney ~

As we live in this turbulent time with its endless stream of alarming news — rights abridged, resources cut off, access to justice denied — Lent invites us into a season of courage and simplicity.

We sometimes think of Lent as a season of discipline — a time of scrupulous attention to our spiritual lives. A time to take on daily prayer practices and give up some favorite treats or habits. A time to become reacquainted with our own frailty by setting ourselves disciplines that stretch us and are a little bit hard.

Maybe.

But this year, I am thinking of Lent as more of an invitation to simplicity. We begin Lent with ashes on our foreheads, reminded of our own finitude. And then we are invited to make an intentional pause each day to stand unguarded before God and our own souls. To say, right out loud, the whole truth of our lives — what we love and what we fear, what we believe and what we doubt, what we long for and what we regret.

I believe this deep work of simplicity and honesty will offer us a doorway to the wideness of God’s love and mercy and the certainty of our own belonging. I trust that it will give us the clarity of mind to see the goodness beyond the dire headlines, to hear the beauty beneath the chaos. To hold onto to the truth that love is stronger than hate.

Rested in God’s love, may our courage to keep on doing good be renewed. When this terrible moment in our national history ends — and it will — it will be because beautiful acts of goodness and generosity are being offered over and over again by people standing in the truth of God’s presence and human belovedness.

Blessings!