Starter Prayer: God of our Stories, give me tireless curiosity to find the meaning in your story, my story, our stories. Give me the courage to ask, “What happened?” and the compassion to show mercy.

Focus Phrase: Wonderful World

Yesterday, we read Lauren Wright Pittman’s reflection on her oil-based ink drawing, “In Our Hands” (pp. 11-12) of the devotional.

Pittman comments on the Hebrew creation narrative, the spiral into violence and God regretting creating humanity and how “God decides it best to return all of Creation to the chaotic void, though God finds hope in Noah’s family.” She writes, “I’ve struggled with this narrative, but I find myself feeling a tremendous amount of compassion. I can only imagine how painful it is to watch the work of your hands devolve into brutality.”

I’m grateful for her honest reflection. I too struggle with the narrative. I too find new meaning in the story when I empathize with God. I also empathize with the Jewish poets and theologians who transcribed the oral tradition and wove it together into a Book of Genesis, reflecting their hard-found compassion toward God, their ancestors and their enemies.

Today, I’m recommending a reading that is outside of our devotional and our faith experience. The link is in the practice section below.

Tomorrow, I recommend the Crossroads Gathering. Ryan is teaching on the topic of Listening, and we are revisiting the wisdom of the question, “What happened?”

Be encouraged in your practice,

Katie Martinez

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE:

• Read pages 11-12 of Again & Again. The link is in every Journey email. If you’re not getting those, register here.
• Read Skywoman Falling, an excerpt from Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
• Questions for journaling and spiritual conversation:
  • How do you feel about the difference between these two creation stories?
  • What was it like for you– listening to a creation story from another faith perspective?
  • In what ways does our Christian faith embolden some people to shirk responsibility for creation care?

ENDNOTES:

• For daily texts with the Focus Word, Starter Prayer and link to these daily posts, text the word “lent” to 970-500-0970.
• Join Ryan on Facebook Live, every weekday morning at 10am for spiritual conversation on these Lent themes.
• Looking for the link to the digital devotional or your copy of the print version? Register here.
• Join the Orange Dots of Hope Facebook Group for spiritual conversations.

This is part of Again & Again: Journey of Lent 2021 with Crossroads Church. The theme, devotional booklet, poetry and art is the work of the creative community of theologians and artists at A Sanctified Art. Crossroads is grateful for this resource!

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