I'm participating in a creative project put out by our siblings in the United Methodist Church for Lent. I intend to take a photo a day that goes along with the prompt and then write about it and the Scripture lessons for the day. I find this practice challenging and fulfilling. Challenging in that each word invites prayerful attention, listening to my life to see where the word rises in my life. Fulfilling in that each day beckons my creativity, a practice that helps me find the fulness of delight and love of the Christ present to me now.
Some days are more challenging than others to create something. Whether it is a busy schedule or the word itself is difficult to define, obstacles will always be in the way. One of the reasons I enjoy this practice so much is that it invites me to live more mindfully. I look for the word throughout the day, but I try not to force it. Again, sometimes it is putting salt back into the saltshaker, and I go for what's easy. If the word is 'Word,' and I don't have time to get creative and write something about how logos isn't a noun, but it is a verb – an important distinction for the opening of John's Gospel – I'll take a picture of a page from the book I'm currently reading. If I plan, I might find an old magazine or an old book, and using a page, I will engage in the art practice known as 'blackout poetry.' This type of poetry blacks out all the words, except those you want to use to create a poem. It is a form of subversive art, too. You can find out more about this practice by clicking here.
Today, the word is 'dazzling.' I've read all the Scriptures assigned for today, and I can't figure out the inspiration for it. The Genesis text is Joseph looking for his brothers, and then when he finds them, they toss him in the pit – which was empty and had no water. The Epistle lesson is about the foolishness of the Gospel and how "God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength." The text encourages folx not to boast – and I take that to mean, not to dazzle – unless you're dazzling for Jesus? I'm not sure that works. And the Gospel lesson is the proclamation of the Good News, followed by an invitation to repent, and it ends with healing. In Mark's Gospel, there's this motif called 'the messianic secret,' and it basically means Jesus tells everyone not to tell anyone about who he is – the Christ. However, only those on the margins see him as the Christ. Today that doesn't happen, but his teaching and healing ministry is impressive – it dazzles the community – and his fame began to grow.
That's a stretch, too.
I'm not sure what to do with today's word and its conversation with Scripture. I could do something like this, I suppose:
- Dazzle like Joseph, and don't be afraid to dream
- Wisdom dazzles as She undoes the ways we define strength
- Jesus dazzles the disciples with his ministry of liberation
I'm not sure what to do with dazzle. Except let God do the dazzling. We find ways to deepen our longings for oneness with the Holy Trinity during Lent. Lent and the different spiritual practices we take on teach us that as a person of faith, it is not so much what we do for God but what God does for us. God longs to dazzle us – and this longing to be dazzled guides our Lenten journey. What's God doing for us? Inviting us to join in those practices that loosen, undo, let go, and break free whatever obstacles stand in the way of allowing the dazzling love of God to shine in our streets.
Dazzled.
I'm not sure where it comes from, but today, I saw it sparkling in the frost on our early morning walk.
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