Our small group is currently reading Pastrix, by Nadia Bolz-Weber. She's the pastor at the House for All Saints and Sinners, a Lutheran church in Denver. She's also a total badass and I want to hang out with her.
Her church's website has a suggestion for things to do each day during Lent to make it more holy.
I'm going to attempt to follow it. We'll see how it goes... I'm pretty awesome at starting things and not following through.
Here's a summary of the first few days.
Day 1: Pray for your enemies.
My first thought was, "What enemies?" I spent most of the Ash Wednesday church service contemplating this. (Well, until the kid in front of me puked everywhere. Then all I could think about was not breathing through my nose.) I finally decided that my only enemies are the people who protest outside of Planned Parenthood, people who think you can pray the gay away, and John Boehner. So I prayed for them. And it wasn't really that hard.
But it didn't seem right... I knew I was missing something. And finally, on Day 3 (when I turned off my radio), I realized who it was: my ex's ex. The one who got my number from his phone and relentlessly called and texted me about how fat and ugly I am, and how someone like him would never want to be with me, and how pathetic I am. There were at least 15 phone calls/voicemails in one night, plus a ton of texts that did not stop until I Urkeled her the next day.
In the moment, I will admit that I was a little angry. That passed quickly, and I felt really sorry for her. More than that, I just wanted it to stop. That level of drama is beyond the realm of anything I've dealt with in my peer group.
But if she's my enemy, and I'm going to pray for her, that has to go beyond compassion. I have to want her to be happy. And what if happiness for her means ending up with my ex?
This just got interesting.
I need more than one day to be able to pray that sincerely. But I'm gonna try.
Day 2: Walk, carpool, bike, or bus it.
This isn't an option for me for work.
Day 3: Don't turn on the car radio.
Why was this so hard??? I forgot, and when I remembered, I did NOT want to turn it off. OMG, I never realized what an addict I am in so many areas of my life.
Was it really THAT important for me to listen to Katy Perry this morning? But I have kept the radio off and tried to use that time to pray for the girl I Urkeled. And because this was so difficult, I have a feeling it's something I should do more often.
Her church's website has a suggestion for things to do each day during Lent to make it more holy.
I'm going to attempt to follow it. We'll see how it goes... I'm pretty awesome at starting things and not following through.
Here's a summary of the first few days.
Day 1: Pray for your enemies.
My first thought was, "What enemies?" I spent most of the Ash Wednesday church service contemplating this. (Well, until the kid in front of me puked everywhere. Then all I could think about was not breathing through my nose.) I finally decided that my only enemies are the people who protest outside of Planned Parenthood, people who think you can pray the gay away, and John Boehner. So I prayed for them. And it wasn't really that hard.
But it didn't seem right... I knew I was missing something. And finally, on Day 3 (when I turned off my radio), I realized who it was: my ex's ex. The one who got my number from his phone and relentlessly called and texted me about how fat and ugly I am, and how someone like him would never want to be with me, and how pathetic I am. There were at least 15 phone calls/voicemails in one night, plus a ton of texts that did not stop until I Urkeled her the next day.
In the moment, I will admit that I was a little angry. That passed quickly, and I felt really sorry for her. More than that, I just wanted it to stop. That level of drama is beyond the realm of anything I've dealt with in my peer group.
But if she's my enemy, and I'm going to pray for her, that has to go beyond compassion. I have to want her to be happy. And what if happiness for her means ending up with my ex?
This just got interesting.
I need more than one day to be able to pray that sincerely. But I'm gonna try.
Day 2: Walk, carpool, bike, or bus it.
This isn't an option for me for work.
Day 3: Don't turn on the car radio.
Why was this so hard??? I forgot, and when I remembered, I did NOT want to turn it off. OMG, I never realized what an addict I am in so many areas of my life.
Was it really THAT important for me to listen to Katy Perry this morning? But I have kept the radio off and tried to use that time to pray for the girl I Urkeled. And because this was so difficult, I have a feeling it's something I should do more often.
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