Lent for Liberation and Possibility
TO FORM,INSPIRE AND STRETCH
WEEK 4 - "Let what you have said be done to me"
AWAIT
"Wherever and whoever God is for us, we will, and can only meet God where we are, in our embodied living, on our planet earth, in the living universe that enfolds our planet, and in the everyday world where we live and move and have our being. If we don't meet God in the everyday, we won't meet God at all." Margaret Silf, (Companions of Christ)
ALLOW
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A26-38&version=KJV
ATTEND
- Art can transform - it can transcend the rational and open us into a way of seeing that is expansive.
The link below will take you to a range of works inspired by the story of The Annunciation.
What has drawn you to this image?
What is it saying to you?
A Primal Yes to Life
Never underestimate the absolute importance - and the difficulty - of starting each encounter with a primal 'yes'. Isn't this what we consistently see in great people and those that make a difference? To start each encounter with no is largely what it means to be unconscious or unaware. You eventually become so defended that you cannot love or see well and so defensive that you cannot change. This is a form of blindness that often passes for intelligence, prudence or even good judgement...For some unfortunate reason, complaining, rejecting or fearing something strengthens your sense of ego and makes you feel like you are important. You contract in to your small and false self, and from there, unfortunately, it becomes harder and harder to re-emerge.
The Naked Now, Richard Rohr
Liberation as an act of surrender... "This act of total surrender is not merely a fantastic intellectual and mystical gamble; it is something much more serious. It is an act of love for this unseen person, who in the very gift of love by which we surrender ourselves to his reality also makes his presence known to us." Thomas Merton, The Contemplative Experience.
What do these thoughts suggest about what it might mean to a liberated person?
What do these thoughts suggest about our call to offer a liberating education?
ACCEPT
How might we be instruments with our God to do new things?
Where is the Spirit 'overshadowing' us?
What implications and demands are placed on us as we seek to provide a liberating education?