Created by play.wonder.belong - posted with permission from @joannajames
Lent Day 1
The Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10:17-27)
I was scared when you asked me
to give it all away,
to trust your love was safe.
I have always been my own protector,
my own defender
even when no one else was.
If my life was stripped bare
If I risked it all for you,
. Would I be made the fool?
Lent Day 2
Eve's Walk from the Garden (Genesis 3)
I wondered, Would I walk
in gardens with you again?
Would I forever be
marked & marred in
my mistakes?
I wondered,
Would you ever look
at me the same,
Would say once again
with tenderness
that I was good,
truly Good?
Lent Day 3
Esther's Musings (Esther Chapter 4)
Could I ever be More than the symmetry of my face
More than the shape of my body
More than a symbol
of what they want to see?
Could I be
My spine
My morals
My mind?
For such a time as this,
Could I inspire
Leaders to be good
Men to be wise
And a people to be saved?
Rest Day.
Lent Day 4 Elijah's Dark Night (1 Kings 19: 4-14)
The roads of my soul
Are streets stripped bare
haunted shadows
Of what once was
awake & alive
.
Do you ask me to
Get up,
Stand up,
Grow up?
.
Or do you say
Lie down now
Give it time
Rest a little while now.
.
I wonder,
Will the sun rise again?
Will you make all things new?
Lent Day 5
Moses Searches for God's Face (Exodus 33)
Why did you hide your face,
When I needed you the most? .
Why did your hand cover me,
When I was most desperate to see?
.
Would your goodness always pass me by
hidden in the cleft?
Will I always just see your back?
Lent Day 6
Joseph, The Dying of a Dream (Genesis 37-50)
Greatness: a mirage that
Lured me by day
Inspired images that
Lulled my every sleep.
But the dream coat
was stripped off
Left bare beneath the ground.
A pit not a palace,
No sheaves or stars there to bow down.
Did You know?
Did you know my dreams were nothing?
Did you know all this time
my fears were true? .
...that what I was,
was Ordinary.
Just dust to dust
through and through.
Lent Day 7
The Man on the Mat; On ‘Dependency, Community & Belonging’ (Luke 5:18-25)
Many mats
Many years
Many hands
Many tears
Each one has carried me.
Many tries
Many trips
Many times
Many slips
Each time held hope for me.
Lowered down
Careful now,
Steady on their feet
I don’t know how,
But they got me here to You.
Is this the place
Where I am not too much?
Is this the place
Where I'm finally home?
Lent Day 8
Ruth, Widowed & Working the Fields (Ruth 2:1-12)
I do all I can
to prove that i am
worthy of a
happy ending.
.
Will the path be kind?
Or will I always tread tender tracks
. fearing that my state
will forever negate
this road from ever rising?
Lent Day 9
Woman at the Well, On Living without Privilege (John 4:4-26)
Raised jug above my head
Sun beats down
I head to the well
No one is around
.
It wears out my body
To avoid them all this way
But I don’t want the questions
I don’t know what to say... I don’t know what to say
Except
This wasn't what I wanted
This isn't who I want to be
Sure, yeah
I wish my life was different
Wish I'd been born
with Opportunity.
.
Sun rises higher now
A stranger sits down
A drink is offered
Eyes squint and inquire
Does this look pry and judge
Only seeing my sins
Or do these eyes look deeper
And honour the story that's within?
Lent Day 10
Israelites in Babylon, On Living Far from Home (Jeremiah 29)
Would you
take me back to
the trees that once sheltered
the garden that once grew
the streets that once
carried me home?
.
I ache for a place
That is For me
I ache for a place
That is not against me
.
Would you take me back? .
Wind settles over me
It stops
In this place
It stops
Lifts my gaze
To the trees that hold me now
To the garden nourishing me here
To this new road that now carries me
.
In this place
I lift my gaze
. Could I let the Land Love me?
Could I let Land take me into belonging?
Rest Day.
Lent Day 11
A Young David, On Waiting (1 Samuel 28-37)
through valleys, rough terrain
Together we've fought
bears and lions
we've fought
my demons too.
.
But when I try to
move from here
to boldly take steps forward
My brothers send me back again.
And I think that
you too, refuse.
.
But would you not
be with me?
I wonder why you pause.
Would you not be at my side,
to fight this giant too?
Lent Day 12
David's Affair, On Lust & Pain (2 Samuel 11:1-5)
Found some things
Balms for pain
crowds who cheer
lovers unnamed.
.
Try to soothe,
this broken place
My life: a constant Chase
I don’t know how
to stop,
say No.
.
But I know.
I've always known,
.
It should be You...
.
But if Your love
is so strong,
Why do I still hurt the way I do?
Lent Day 13
Hagar, On Oppression (Genesis 16:1-1, Pt. 1)
I've always lived below
the place where real lives live
In the shadows of real families
behind noble lineage
.
I do my best
I fold, I clean, and cook
I lay my life down
In the ways I thought a servant should
.
I thought I'd given everything
Until they asked for 'just one more thing'
they asked for, 'all of me:
my womb, my dignity' .
Is my life just a prop
to the other lives that matter?
.
Could there be some care for me,
Someone who sees my suffering.
Lent Day 14
Sarai, On 'Not Being Enough' (Genesis 16:1-16, Pt. 2)
I didn't think I was
the woman he wished I was
I didn't think I was
the woman he wished I was
I wondered if my authenticity
was another word for flaws:
Deficiencies.
.
Got lost in swirls of jealousy
Lashed out at those
around me
was angry with the women for whom, 'It all came so easily'
.
I flinch too,
at this rumbling
drum of my life.
.
But can you hear it?
Is it audible to you?
Beneath the pounding
there are strings that mourn
This: not just kick beats,
but a grieving melody.
Lent Day 15
Simon Peter, On ‘Holding onto Wonder’ Mark 1:16-20
A long time ago
someone once told me,
to lay aside
my foolish dreams
"Time to move on"
was what they said
"No one is coming or calling,
build yourself a life instead"
.
So I chartered my own path
And i built myself a boat
made something
that would last
(At least, that is what I hoped)
But even though they said
you wouldn't ever show
I tried my best in
wind and waves
Never to let go.
I couldn’t
I wouldn’t
Let go
of inner hope
that the mystery wrapped
within the horizon
was that one day
You'd Show.
Lent Day 16
Zaccheus, On Community (Luke 19:1-10)
For all the times
I've tried to change
To be more honest
Not stay the same.
I'd always feared
I couldn't need
anyone or group
they'd already seen
the worst in me.
I waited and I wondered
One day
Could One look up
And call me down
from this hiding?
Invite me to their tribe,
a place of new abiding? .
.
.
But
For all the times
I've wanted change
I fear
they'll always
see me the same.
Rest day.
Lent Day 17
The Widow's Last Jar, On Fear & Scarcity (2 Kings 4:1-7)
I told him I was afraid.
.
He asked,
Why do you fear?
.
I have a little for now,
But not enough for later.
.
He asked,
What do you have?
.
Just some oil
a small simple jar.
.
He instructed:
Step out
Lean on
Watch the oil
Multiply
Watch the little
Become a lot
When others
are involved.
.
I said,
I'm still afraid.
.
He said,
I know
I know you are.
It's going to be OK.
.
Because together,
Together
is Enough.
Lent Day 18
Abram, On Trust (Genesis 12:1-10)
While we sat in the field
and we looked up at the sky
I told you I wanted
to be fruitful
my life to multiply.
And in the night
I heard your promise
This, I could not deny.
So I rose, went forth
to a plot of open land
tried to trust you
through and through.
Always take your hand.
.
Through and through
I trusted you
through war &
through the famine
I trusted you with
my family,
my marriage...
even though it was
Barren.
.
So now I can’t help but ask
Should it really feel this way?
Should a life etched with trust and wonder
feel so stretched,
so torn at every seam?
. Was that blanket of stars
we looked at,
Not Your promise,
but just my dream?
Lent Day 19
Noah, On Community Suffering (Genesis 6-8)
I lifted my eyes
dark clouds hovered
I lifted my arms
felt the wind
swirl around us
I didn't know why,
I was safe
while they suffered
I knew it wasn't because
You loved them Any Less.
.
I watched the
earth crack open
Your tears began to fall
for the child hurting
the mother weeping
the father in mourning,
And the friends
who were grieving.
.
And
from this
little boat,
my tears
fell too.
Lent Day 20
Man with Leprosy, On Isolation (Mark 1:40-45)
When the town was
taken from me,
.
I sat alone.
.
Outside the city gates
eerie silence echoed
in a canyon of dry land
.
Wasteland from
comforts
connection
I feared they had
forgotten me
.
I wondered,
Would you forget me, too?
Lent Day 21
Moses, On 'Doing it Scared' (Exodus 17:1-17)
I do not want to tell them,
that I am scared as well.
If I look too far ahead
the fears begin to swell...
Worried manna will run out
the meat and water too.
Will we always have enough?
Will I be enough for them,
if I walk with these fears too?
.
My voice shakes
but I tell them,
Though we cannot see
the months ahead
We will live in rhythm
with our days
My hands tremble
but I open them
We must not hoard,
but show Love Always.
.
Though we cannot see
the months ahead,
Still we have this day
And the Love that's
always led us,
will still lead
when we're afraid.
Lent Day 22
Parable of the Knocking Neighbour, On 'Prayer & Silence' (Luke 11:5-13)
I climbed the front steps
with some questions & some needs
I stood on the front porch
wanting someone to listen,
Please.
.
When I knocked,
I heard no
footsteps shuffle
along your hardwood floor
.
When I knocked,
I heard no
voices muffled
behind this great big door
.
And I felt the echoes
of an empty place
a home that was 'no more'
I reasoned to myself,
You must not
live here anymore.
Rest day.
Lent Day 23
The Israelites and the Tabernacle, Worship in the Wilderness (Exodus 25-31)
We didn't have a mighty box
four walls of brick-and-mortar
We wanted a place more permanent
So we could plan what time
You'd be there.
Could we find you now
in wild places
where tent walls
blow with every breeze?
Could we find you now
in untamed land
where rivers flow
undefined by routine?
We had wanted a mighty box
not an ever-changing landscape,
Could we find you now
A Divine Mystery
Could we gather now
In a Sanctuary unseen?
Lent Day 24
Leah, On Living Unloved Genesis 29:14-35
My village always told me
I was tolerable,
not exactly desirable.
My friends explained
I was comfortable,
nothing really admirable.
.
I didn't ever capture attention,
or incite Love unaccompanied
by hesitations.
.
But here I am now,
In the place
I should most belong
Here, I finally
let down my guard
And reach out my hands
to receive that which
my heart has always needed.
.
But
Here,
no hands reach back for me.
.
Will living a life unloved
always be my truth?
Will I always be
second choice
even here and now with You?
Lent Day 25
Nurse of Mephibosheth, On Caregiving in the Wilderness (2 Samuel 4)
I have loved you
all your life,
and through other storms
I kept you inside.
I protected
your small body
from matters which
make swords rise.
But now as we are running
through terrain
I've never faced
I'm not sure I can
be your everything,
I'm not sure I am
your safe place.
I'm sorry I'm not stronger
I can't carry you perfectly
but for every time I trip,
I pray once again for Mercy.
Mercy to cover over
Everything I couldn't be
Mercy to give you peace
and bring you back
to the table
eventually.
Lent Day 26
Joshua, Walking in the War (Joshua 6:1-23)
The waiting made me antsy
I wanted to see swift change
I wanted to move my body
and run high on adrenaline.
You know how
I love the conquest
the great race
between many things.
.
But all we did for months
was walk round and round
those walls
All we did for months,
was wait for
barriers to fall.
.
You know my stress
You know my worry
And still you ask
that I walk, not hurry.
.
Still you promise
that in the walking
lay a great and many things
not normally glimpsed
while running,
but so worthy to be seen.
Lent Day 27
Jacob, On Wrestling God (Genesis 32:22-32)
In the night we fought.
I pinned you
from every side
I pushed you hard. You hurt me.
I fought back.
then,
I cried.
I did not fight to win,
I just fought to Know.
But when morning rose
and day began to break,
I loosened my grip
and looked into
the face of the one
I'd fought so long
It was not Yours,
but Mine
illumined now
by new day's light.
Lent Day 28
Prophet Habakkuk, When Labour Bears No Fruit (Habakkuk 3:17-19)
Feet stand firm on
fields forgotten
cast off by clouds
who'd long since cleared
.
Eyes lift up to see
gnarled branches
silhouetted bare on sky
the promise of fruit
now seen as a lie
.
Hands reach to touch
Vines twisted on this trellis
they deceptively slither
with vague assurances
.
And a heart holds fear
that trust has been betrayed
When everything was entrusted,
Was it all just taken away?
Rest Day.
Lent Day 29
Tower of Babel, On Losing Self-Constructed Greatness (Genesis 11:1-9)
Our hands constructed
Towers of iron and gold
Our projects looked mighty!
(Or so we were told)
We made some ladders
of honour, prestige too
We wanted to climb up
Be a part of the select few
We laboured and we toiled,
We climbed til' we ached
We wanted so badly
To each Be something Great.
.
But when skies cracked open
with thunder and with rain
Our towers began to crumble
Until all we were left with,
was each one with their own name.
.
Together,
we stood upon the rubble