Holy Longing Monday
Fasting & Feasting Retreat: Holy Week
Image: The Prodigal Son, Christopher Koelle
There is innocence as well as grief in this world.
Let yourself reach out again toward what is beautiful…
Remember the clear purple of a wild geranium growing amid the rocks.
Remember the beauty of a mossy tree trunk splashed with clear water from a mountain stream.
None of these great beauties is more beautiful than you are.
You are my cherished treasure, unique in all of time.
I listen for your voice with a mother’s tender ears.
Like a good father, I am always alert to your cries.
Allow me to parent you, to raise you as my own offspring.
You are beloved.
-Julia Cameron, Answered Prayers: Love Letters from the Divine.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. – Jesus in Matthew 7: 7-8
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you…Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. – Jesus in John 14:18-20
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who trusts in God.
Psalm 34:8
Reflection Holy Longing Monday
During Lent, we have explored fasting of various sorts and a deeper examination of our hungers. Now, as we enter Holy Week we shifting to a discipline of “feasting.” Specifically, a feasting on God’s love for us. The Psalm instructs us to “taste and see that the Lord is good” and promises that the one who trusts (takes refuge in, looks to for protection) in God is blessed (fortunate, prosperous, favored by God, happy). Can you taste that the Lord is good? We invite you to feast on God’s love for you through the images, poems and activities this week.
Tonight look back over your day and consider the times during which God was present in your life. Consider also ways in which God has shown love to you, today or at other times. Make a note of them.
Poetry for Meditation & Reflection
O Taste and See, by Denise Levertov
The world is
not with us enough.
O taste and see
the subway Bible poster said,
meaning The Lord, meaning
if anything all that lives
to the imagination’s tongue,
grief, mercy, language,
tangerine, weather, to
breathe them, bit,
savor, chew, swallow, transform
into our flesh our
deaths, crossing the street, plum, quince,
living in the orchard and being
hungry, and plucking
the fruit.
Every Movement, by Hafiz
I rarely let the word “No” escape
from my mouth.
Because it is so plain to my soul
That God has shouted “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
To every luminous movement in Existence
Program Note: We are now entering Holy Week. A daily email will be sent on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday with poetry and scripture and/or a brief reflective statement or question. On Good Friday and Saturday the emails will be silent. A final reflection will be sent and posted on Easter Sunday.
This Online Lenten Retreat is also available via a weekly email. Please click here if you would like to receive the retreat in your inbox until Easter.
Read Wk 1: What are You Hungry For?
Read Wk 2: Creating Space
Read Wk 3: Pulling Focus
Read Wk 4: Breaking Barriers
Read Wk 5: Forgiveness
Read Wk 6: Holy Longing
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