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Edwards Church

United Church of Christ | Saxonville, Massachusetts

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Practicing…

March 5, 2024 by Alexis Ortiz

Dear friends,

By now, we are several weeks into our Lenten season, with our theme, “Practicing…”. We have reflected on practices that shape our faith: practicing breathing as we claim the Spirit of God moving through our every inhale and exhale; practicing awareness as we awaken to beauty around us. Our daily devotions have highlighted practices of visiting, remembering, gardening, making music, picking up trash, and even napping. We have practiced singing together. During the month of March, we will practice forgiveness, compassion and trust. We will practice courage on Palm Sunday and resurrection on Easter.

What a rich theme this has turned out to be! In a world that often feels chaotic and out-of-our-control, the practices of faith—the habits we develop– ground us in what matters most. We started Lent by emphasizing that we are NOT practicing in order to be perfect. On Ash Wednesday we boldly proclaimed that we are giving up perfectionism for Lent, choosing instead to practice being fully human.

Since Ash Wednesday, I’ve heard so many stories about trying to be perfect. The stories almost never end well, for if the goal is perfection, we always fail. Along the way we beat ourselves up.

Our Lenten conversations about perfection point me to our need for grace. I visualize grace as God’s waterfall of love, poured out upon us, not because we are good, not in spite of our mistakes, but simply because we are God’s beloved. I imagine God saying to us, “I get it. This being human is hard. I know you are trying. Keep trying. That’s all you have to do. I’ll help you.”

What if we could say that to each other? What if we could say that to ourselves? What if our practices could gently give us a framework to help us keep trying? What if we remembered that we are surrounded by people who want to help us? What if we received the gift of God’s waterfall of grace with joy and shared it with others?

 

Peace, Debbie

Filed Under: Pastor

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