Monday, March 1, 2021
Monday in the Second Week of Lent
Jan Smith
The Collect of the Day
Let your Spirit, O Lord, come into the midst of us to wash us with the pure water of repentance, and prepare us to be always a living sacrifice to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Readings: Daniel 9:3–10, Luke 6:27–38 & Psalm 79:1–9
Knowing that I have a lot to learn about the bible, I began planning and thinking about my reflection by reading a study guide for the Book of Daniel. I learned that on a very basic level it was meant to be a message of promise and encouragement which the Jewish people needed in their time of peril. After reading the verses in Daniel and then the Psalm, I read the verses in Luke. As I thought about them, it seemed they offered a message of direction for a path forward in life.
For me, Lent has become an invitation to a time of introspection and intention. I humbly pray that each day provides an opportunity to grow in my relationship with God and to better hear God and to understand how I can try to do his will here on Earth.
In a reflection that I wrote earlier this year, I found myself thinking about the impact my father had on my life. After reading Luke, I was drawn to memories of my mother and could not help but think of the ways in which she lived her life. Mom passed away in 1983 at the age of 59 – all too early. However, I believe that she was at peace and had a strong belief in God’s love for her. She lived a life of grace. She was filled with love and compassion for those she met in her hospital nursing career, in her work as a school nurse, in her role as a church organist and choir director, and, most importantly, in her role as a wife, mother, grandmother and friend.
After her death, when my sisters and I were pouring over her journals reading pages that spoke of her devotion to God and to her fellow man, we discovered many poems and thoughts jotted down on loose papers. We found one particular collection of thoughts titled “On This Day,” tucked in many different places. As we read “On This Day,” we realized that Mom was guided by these words and they reflected the way in which she lived her life. I read “On This Day” on a daily basis, feel Mom, and feel inspired and challenged just as I was when reading the passage in Luke. I share these thoughts with you:
On This Day
Mend a quarrel
Search out a forgotten friend
Write a letter
Share some treasure
Give a soft answer
Encourage youth
Manifest your loyalty in a word or deed
Keep a promise
Find the time
Forgo a grudge
Forgive an enemy
Listen
Apologize if you were wrong
Try to understand
Flout envy
Examine your demands on others
Think first of someone else
Appreciate –be kind – be gentle
Laugh a little more
Deserve confidence
Take up arms against malice
Decry complacency
Express your gratitude
Worship your God
Gladden the heart of a child
Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder
of the earth
Speak your love,
Speak it again,
Speak it again – once more.
In my mother’s papers, there was no author listed, but what I have discovered is that “On This Day” probably is a variation on a quote from Howard W. Hunter.
During this Lenten season, may we speak our love, speak it again, speak it again – once more, and may we be reminded of God’s love for us.