Lent Meditation

Reading:

Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

                                    ~Psalm 80:3

(pause)

Reflecting:

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

~2 Corinthians 1:3-4

The University of Wisconsin’s Center for the Study of Pain conducted an experiment in which researchers timed how long volunteers could keep their feet in buckets of freezing water. They discovered something remarkable: whenever a companion was allowed in the room with the person whose feet were being frozen, he or she could endure the cold for twice as long as those who suffered alone. ‘The presence of another caring person doubles the amount of pain a person can endure,’ the researchers said. The same is undoubtedly true of emotional pain. (God on Mute by Pete Grieg)                      

Ask yourself: Who reveals God’s loving presence to me? Do I spend enough time with them? Do they know how deeply I value the comfort their presence brings?

Ask God: Lord, show me someone who needs to know Your comfort expressed through me this week?  

(pause)

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for how much you value me. Show me who needs to feel valued and supported.

Listening

 A prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:

O Master, let me not seek as much

To be consoled as to console,

To be understood as to understand,

To be loved as to love.