Through Stained Glass: Forgetful

I am a forgetful person. 

Where did I put my keys? 
    What day of the week is it?
        Why did I come into the kitchen?
            
        I forgot my bathing suit! 
    I forgot my dentures!
You forgot our pastor’s birthday? 

I say all of this with tongue in cheek. However, my experience has been that I forget things when I’m not being mindful of what I am doing. It is easy to do this with all that demands our attention these days. The same goes for our faith, too. Which is why the first Sunday of Lent each year we read about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. It is less to tell ourselves about how broken and sinful (gasp) we are, but more so as a way to remind us of how we have forgotten who and whose we are amidst the distractions. 

Lent is the season where we prayerfully and intentionally listen for the still small voice of the Divine that says, “You are my beloved!” In remembering who and whose we are, we journey towards our most authentic and true self. Thus, Lent becomes about us living better, not worse! 

I forget things, sometimes. I forget that I am not defined by how many hours in a week I work. I forget that the only thing people expect from me is to be myself. I forget that when I’m in the thick of things and in the dark days of winter, even though I can’t see it, life is happening and that God is present…
            Somehow…
                    Some way.

I love what Fr. James Martin says in the book we are reading on Wednesday mornings about remembering who and whose we are. Fr. Jim says:

God desires for us to be the persons we were created to be: to be only and purely ourselves, and in this state to love God and to let ourselves be loved by God…” 

Wait. 

What? 

Explain what that means, pastor! 

You got it. 

I am a forgetful person. I have a tendency to wander away from The Way of Love. The Lenten season invites me to move away from whatever prevents me from being closer with God: selfishness, pride, fear, and so on. Instead, I use this season of prayer and self-exploration to move towards those parts of myself that draw me nearer to God. 

Here’s the thing, y'all. 

I forget that this longing to be one with God is planted within by God in the first place.

Did you catch that? The desire to live into this True Self is planted in us by God!  

I hope that you never forget the Love planted deep within you. 

I hope you never forget that God is always
                        Always
                            ALWAYS 
                                Offering us freedom! 

We just need to listen for Her knocking at the door of our heart. 

I am a forgetful person.

But I am also a friend to the One who never forgets me!