I have enjoyed taking pictures for my “Awe a Day” calendar this Lent. It has made me attentive to objects and views I might have missed in ordinary time. But after a few days I knew I needed some words. Maybe even one word. So the word for this Lent has been Surrender. Each day I write a new thought or idea related to surrender and spend some time thinking about the word and sitting in silence with the word. I try to listen to what God might have to say about surrender to me. After the thirty days so far, I feel “closer” to the word and less afraid of it.
This second calendar shows postures of surrender. Thinking and pondering the word surrender is easier than doing it. Placing my body in a position of surrender is hard. It’s embarrassing, even in the privacy of my own house. So I’ve been trying it. The postures are a way to practice the vulnerability of spiritual surrender. The calendar uses stick figures “après Roy DeLeon,” the author of Praying With the Body: Bringing the Psalms to Life. (I think one of the reasons I like liturgical worship is because my body is invited into postures that can be seen as weak in the outside world–kneeling, opening my hands for communion….)
I enjoyed reading this and seeing your calendars, Sybil. Thank you for sharing. I hadn’t caught yet that you were working with one word for Lent and I really love the idea.
Also wanted you to know that I am using your Lent 2015 spiral and filling it up with a butterfly a day. (Hope was my word last year) It’s been a welcomed, lovely change of pace.
Blessings on your journey….
Love to see the finished spiral calendar, Debbie Grace!
I’ll be happy to share! :)
One of my favorite prayers:
I have complete faith in our Lord and Savior.
Shoulder Wound of Jesus Christ
Oh loving Jesus, meek lamb of God, I, a miserable sinner salute and worship the most sacred wound of Thy Shoulder, on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy cross, which so tore The flesh and laid Thy bones as to inflict an anguish greater than any other wound of Thy most Blessed Body.
I adore thee, oh Jesus most sorrowful, I praise and glorify thee, and give thankfully to thee this most Holy and sacred and painful wound, beseeching Thee by that exacting pain, and by the crushing burden of Thy Heavy Cross to be merciful to me towards Heaven along the way of Thy Cross. (Mention Petition). Amen to all.
Publication MUST happen immediately after prayer. Note from donor: for a speedy help in any situation. To bring you closer to Jesus. For urgent causes.
People who use this prayer say, This is a powerful prayer__Have complete faith in God’s promise to grant all that you ask through it. Unfailing, Efficacious, Effective.
*This most powerful prayer must be said for requests and most urgent help. After you have said it and asked for your requests- This prayer must be Published!