Thursday, April 12, 2012

My Lent Experience

Here is how Lent went for me.

I started out with the intention of giving up worry. .I soon found, however, that you can't will worry away; you can't stop worrying simply by deciding not to. At least I can't. So, I began to look for ways to eliminate things that contribute to worry as well as add practices aimed at helping me deal with worry.

First, I decided to pray. The bible says, "don't worry, pray." But some days this winter were so dark and desperate for me I couldn't pray. I didn't know what to say. So, I asked for help. I asked my family and friends and I reached out to a member of the prayer team at NEC. And while peace  was hard to come by some days it was a comfort to know that my prayers would be heard even if I couldn't speak them.

The bible also says to pray with thanksgiving. So, I started a gratitude journal. This is not as easy as it sounds, at least not for me. After one whole week I had just five entries in my journal and four out of five had to do with coffee. I like coffee. But I soon learned that when you look for things to be grateful for you will find them.

Finally, I decided to give up the Today Show. I like the Today Show but it has a way of filling my head with worries I don't need. So,.two weeks ago, I turned it off. At first, the quiet was uncomfortable; lonely. But over time I learned to live with it. What is wrong, I told myself, with being uncomfortable? What is wrong with feeling lonely for a few hours?

What I have learned through the Lent Experience--my Lent experience--is this: if I get rid of something, God will replace it. If I create space in my life, God will move into that space in ways I hadn't imagined. But, maybe that's because, as Barbara Brown Taylor points out, that space was meant to be filled by God all along. - Kelly Jenkins Lin

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