Lent Daybook 14: Smallest of All

Look:  Beloved, Tim Lowly - Source 

I encourage you to spend time becoming familiar with Tim Lowly's work, which centers deeply and beautifully on his daughter Temma who suffered a cardiac arrest shortly after her birth that left her brain profoundly damaged. If there was ever a fatherly gaze of love, it's the way Tim invites us to see his daughter through his eyes and to see ourselves through hers. You might also enjoy this interview: Temma Is A Great And Utterly Innocent Mystery.

Listen*:  Come Healing (Leonard Cohen cover), Elayna Boynton - Lyrics | Spotify | YouTube 

Read**:  Psalm 70, 71; Genesis 42:29-38; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; Mark 4:21-34 

Excerpts:

"May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!” But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!"

*

"Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man. For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you."

*

"When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies. We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’ Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way. Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’

As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me. ... My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

*

"All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power."

*

"And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything."

- Psalm 70:4-5 * Psalm 71:4-6 * Genesis 42:29-36,38 * 1 Corinthians 6:12-14 * Mark 4:30-34 (ESV)

Pray: from The Book of Common Prayer, The Prayer For Quiet Confidence 

O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be our strength: By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Do: Fast emojis and social media symbols. Feast on the language of lament and amazement instead.

This week we’ll fast from replacement symbols for language - emojis and social media “likes” - and feast on the language of lament and amazement instead.

Pay attention, in particular, to the Psalms in each day’s post. Gather words of lament and amazement to use throughout the day. Consider the characters in the other Scripture passages each day. Pay attention to the verbal and non-verbal responses they use. You can even keep a thesaurus handy throughout the week.

Whenever you’re tempted to use an emoji or social media symbol, stop and ask yourself the following question:

  • Where does the need to do this come from?

  • If this conversation was happening face to face, what is it I most want to say to this person?

If you discover that finding language (including

silence and physical presence) especially difficult try this exercise:

Divide a piece of paper into four columns headed with the words “I’m sad with you”, “I’m amazed with you”, “I love this about you”, “I’m celebrating with you”. In each column write all the ways you know to convey each truth. Put this list where you can see it and revisit it. Intentionally use these words and phrases throughout the week.*

  • What do you notice about yourself and yourself and the way you relate to others in their experiences?

*Exercise adapted from Adele Ahlberg Calhoun’s chapter “Controlling the Tongue”, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook.

* Listen to my entire playlist on Spotify: Lent - Worship & Prayer 2020. Add it to your account by clicking ‘Save to my Library’.

** Sunday Scripture readings are taken from the Revised Common Lectionary (Year A). Daily Scripture readings are taken from the Book of Common Prayer (Year 2).