DIRECTION (February 18)
Lent Is Direction
February 18, 2024
Bible
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
Psalm 32:8
Baldwin
Be careful what you set your heart upon,’ someone once said to me, ‘for it will surely be yours.
Thought
On the journey of faith there are moments where people lose their bearings, and in these moments they have stop and check the compass guiding them. For some they are guided by their heart and burning passions, and for they are guided by wisdom from the stories others. These things recenter them and help them find direction, and the same is true for practices that are done in the Lenten season. Lent is a time where Christians intentionally stop on the journey of faith and find direction through prayer, Scripture, fasting, and repentance. These things like signs point us onward to a destination, and that is Christ Whose death and resurrection lie ahead of us.
SEEING (February 17)
Lent Is Seeing
February 17, 2024
Bible
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
Psalm 119:18
Baldwin
Every society is really governed by hidden laws. by unspoken but profound assumptions on the part of the people, and ours is no exception.
Thought
One of Baldwin’s strengths was seeing ills that others could not, but he also saw a host of joys and worked for others to see them. These joys surround us and are with us each day, but our closeness to them often makes us take them for granted. During Lent we are tempted to focus on the season’s many challenges. Nevertheless, there are joys it presents to us as we make our way to Easter. These things are blessings that are wish us in every season; therefore let us acknowledge and enjoy them with gratitude. As we see the ills, may we look and see the joys.
LISTENING (February 16)
Lent Is Listening
February 16, 2024
Bible
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.
Psalm 130:1-2
Baldwin
I love to talk to people, all kinds of people, and almost everyone, as I hope we still know, loves a man who loves to listen.
Thought
In times like Lent we are told to listen for the Lord, so we set our hearts on silence that we might hear Him speak. We search for quiet times in quiet spaces with quiet practices, all in the hope of catching His voice and a possible word for our benefit. Yet, as we seek retreat we cannot fully leave the world, and we have to hear its constant noise of busyness and people. We have to tune our ears to the cacophony around us, for in it God is also speaking and has a word for us. May we learn to listen in the quiet and the noise.
HEALING (February 15)
Lent Is Healing
February 15, 2024
Bible
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
John 5:6
Baldwin
Nothing is more desirable than to be released from an affliction, but nothing is more frightening than to be divested of a crutch.
Thought
When Jesus asked the man if he wanted to get better, He was really asking, in Baldwin’s words, “Are you willing to leave your crutches?” Crutches are comforts meant to lift us for a season, but somewhere we rely on them and fail to stand on our own. During Lent we are also asked if we are willing to leave such comforts, from small things like chocolate to big things like coping mechanisms. And when we leave them we will find ourselves made better, and walking the roads of life and faith with the strength and joy of God. Whatever our crutches are, may we lay them down and be healed.
Lent Is: Fasting With James Baldwin
Lent Is
Fasting With James Baldwin
For this year’s Lenten season I am not using a particular devotional. Instead, I am daily reflecting on Scripture while reading James Baldwin’s, “Nobody Knows My Name.” The idea for this came while stopping by the Baldwin & Co. Bookstore after visiting the historic St. Augustine Catholic Church of New Orleans. Both places are sanctuaries where my faith is always replenished, and they remind me of this special time of fasting and repentance.
Each day I will post a short thought in light of my reflections, and I hope it will be a help to others these forty days until Easter.
Happy Lent and many blessings!
LOVE (February 14)
Lent Is Love
February 14, 2024 (Ash Wednesday)
Bible
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.
Luke 10:27
Baldwin
Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.
Thought
This year the Lenten season begins on Valentine’s Day, and this is very fitting because it is also a season of love. In addition to God and neighbour, there is also the love of self, which many often forget as they follow the greatest commandments. A healthy self-love is essential for physical and spiritual well-being, and during Lent it is encouraged through giving and taking up. We give up harmful things that hold us back, and we take up wholesome things that help us to thrive. As we seek to love God and neighbour through fasting and repentance these forty days, may we not forget to love ourselves.
Upcoming Event: The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute & Dinner
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute & Dinner
Overseas Americans Remember
Den Haag-February 11, 2024
On February 11th I will be taking part in a tribute and dinner in honour of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This event is sponsored by Overseas Americans Remember, and all who wish to attend must register. For more information and registration details, click on the button below.
The image featured in this post is by adampaulclay of pixabay.com and is free for public use.
A Shocking Exhortation: The Final Sermon of Martin Luther King
A Shocking Exhortation
The Final Sermon of Martin Luther King
Sometimes I feel discouraged, having to go to bed so often frustrated with the chilly winds of adversity about to stagger me. Sometimes I feel discouraged, and feel my work’s in vain.
– Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
A Burning House
At the end of his life Martin Luther King Jr. was greatly discouraged, and began to feel that much of his work had been in vain. Though his famous Dream was praised and receiving a wide acceptance, it was also being misunderstood and altered in unhelpful ways. Seeing this the Rev. Dr. King feared that things were going in the wrong direction, and worried that the outcome would be negative for his people. In a conversation with Harry Belafonte he expressed a hope mingled with concern, and is quoted as saying:
I’ve come upon something that disturbs me deeply. We have fought hard and long for integration, as I believe we should have, and I know we will win, but I have come to believe that we are integrating into a burning house.
A Sanitized Icon
Though progress has been made and parts of the Dream have been realised, the nightmare that King worked to end continues to this day. Racial tensions within his time have lingered into the present, and divisions seem to roll like a river with discontents like an ever-flowing stream. Simultaneously things appear to get worse while getting better, and the reason for this paradox is a misunderstanding of King.
During a MLK Holiday Breakfast in 2005, Juan Williams spoke of how people honor a sanitized icon. They come to a mythical King, altered to be more palatable. A Civil Rights leader proclaiming hope without a sharp rebuke. Williams also pointed out that one is free to believe in the King they wish, or further alter the icon to fit their tastes and leave them comfortable.
Nevertheless, behind the icon is the real non-mythical King. A Prophetic Preacher with righteous anger demanding righteous repentance. He called, and calls, for ending the nightmare that he had fought against, and this can be heard in speeches beyond, I Have A Dream.
A Shocking Exhortation
In addition to his well-known oration in Washington DC, King had a host of powerful sermons that many have not explored. One such sermon is, Why America May Go To Hell, which he planned to preach just before his assassination. While I’ve Been To The Mountaintop was his last delivered sermon, this was King’s last scheduled sermon. Despite being undelivered there is a complete text, and as one reads it they can feel his cadence and imagine his presence.
In this sermon, King is not, as Colin Grant writes, “defanged”. Instead he fully speaks his mind with a shocking exhortation. There is a call to selfless humility for those abusing power, and a call to bold action for those who are disempowered. King also shows a radical love through a harsh rebuke, and invites others to take part in bettering America and the world. This sermon is a wonderful alternative to reading I Have A Dream for MLK Day. It strips away the icon and reveals a truthful voice that has impacted and continues to impact those who hear it.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY REV. DR. KING!
To read the Martin Luther King Jr.’s final sermon, click on the button below.
The images featured in this post are by SummerGlow, EasyGiftWizard, falco, and DWilliam of Pixabay.com and free for public use with proper acknowledgements.
Bouctou's Well: My Longest Writing Project
In the spring of 2006, my grandmother passed away, and for months I looked at different ways to weather the throes of sorrow. One way was a writing project based on Dante’s Divine Comedy, where I approached my grief like a journey through a new and unknown world. This project, which includes some illustrations, took 17 years to complete, and in celebration of this year’s Kwanzaa I am sharing part of it on my website.
To read a sample of the poem, click on the button below.
The images featured here are by Scotty J. Williams, and the poem featured here is © Scotty J. Williams
Amen! (A Prayer for Christmas)
Amen!
A prayer for the 2023 Christmas season.
As we celebrate the birth of Christ and feel the joy of the manger, let us not attempt to settle down in the little town of Bethlehem. Though an infant Who could not speak, Jesus also grew up to be a King. A King Who calls us to follow Him and to keep His way of service and love.
Here is my Christmas prayer for 2023. It is based on Jester Hairston’s arrangement of the Spiritual, “Amen“. Feel free to share it and use it with the proper acknowledgements of its source.
O Child of Bethlehem, I give thanks for Your holy birth. Yet, I give greater thanks for the many joyful wonders that came after it. From the manger You became a boy Who spoke with elders in the Temple. From the Temple You became a man Who was baptised in the Jordan. From the Jordan You became a teacher Who called disciples from the seaside. From the seaside You became a King Who brought peace to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem You went before Pilate who sent You to a cross and grave. And from the cross and grave You rose again with eternal life and freedom. For this I sing “Amen!” in joy and celebration, and I offer You all praises with a grateful heart this day. You Who were born for us, lived for us, died for us, rose for us, and reign for us. To You be the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
The images featured in this post is are by Scotty J. Williams.
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