Lent V 03/17/24
The Still Point
A Time of Meditation and Reflection
The Fifth Sunday in Lent
... At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance...
T.S. Eliot, Burnt Norton
Like a tent in the wilderness, God’s table stands ready;
A place of sanctuary and safety, of hospitality and healing.
Come, all you who are tired and travel-stained, footsore and famished;
Come with your fellow travelers to find companionship and comfort.
Jesus waits to meet us here and welcome us in,
Offering rest and renewal, solace, and strength, for the journey still to come.
Opening Prayer
Lord, help us to see: to see what is eternally good and true, and having seen, to go on searching until we come to the joys of heaven. This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Gospel John 12:20-33
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.
Poem: “End Grain” by Matthew Nienow
is an opening, is all
we can see
of the long
strands that make
the pathways for
rays, bisecting
annular rings,
the most
vulnerable door
of what makes
the holiest of
things.
Meditation
Matthew Nienow's poem "End Grain" inadvertently juxtaposes for us his use of the word "grain" with its use in the Gospel - Jesus refers to wheat seeds, but this poem describes wood grain. "End grain" is the grain of wood most beloved by woodworkers for making objects like cutting boards - it can withstand a knife edge repeatedly and not deteriorate. We're invited into viewing wood grain as strong in its vulnerability, as willingly laid open to the lashes and blows of use and taking cuts into itself without being corrupted. On the cross, Jesus takes the whole of human suffering into himself, and in so doing, he takes all our wounds into the heart of God.
It's often challenging for us to receive teachings of truth from Jesus. He teaches his disciples to do things like leave their livelihoods behind, give away all their possessions, disown their family members, or, as in the Gospel for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, "hate [their lives]". These instructions feel so extreme to us. If we're honest, most of us can't imagine fully executing this kind of to-do list.
While there may come a day when we are called to literally lay down our lives, it's more likely that we will be, and are being, continually called to lay down our perceptions of our lives and our selves. Egoic death. We experience this type of death repeatedly in our lives, and Jesus describes this experience earlier in John's Gospel when he says, "I lay down my life for the sheep...in order to take it up again, truly." John 10:14,17. When we get into a conflict with a loved one, when we suffer a setback at work, when fear of the future grips us, when we worry, these are often the very places where we hear the death-cry of the ego. As we learn to recognize the sound of its dying voice in such places, as we come to understand that the ego's death means that we are emerging into our true life as beloved of God, empowered to co-create God's kin-dom of heaven here on earth, we may soon find ourselves set before a table bursting with spiritual fruits, the joy, the peace, the love that is always available and ready for all of us.
Questions for Reflection
Consider the characters of wheat grain and wood grain. A grain of wheat is a seed holding every bit of information needed to make tall bowing stalks of wheat, all the potential and the future of the plant. A wood grain tells the story of the life of the tree from which it came in rings and whorls and burls. Now consider your own story. What is written in the rings and whorls and burls of your life? What promises and dreams are held within you, that earth and water and light might cause to burst forth with your surrender?
Think of a few places or times in your life when you have heard and recognized the death-cry of your egoic self. What did you notice, and how did it feel? What changed for you because of that "death" experience?
Recall something that still hurts you. Name it before God. Ask God to take this wound into Godself. Consider something that you believe no longer serves the you that is emerging now. Name it before God. Bring it to the foot of the cross and present it to Jesus as an offering.
Prayers
We bring before God someone whom we have met or remembered today
We bring to God someone who is hurting tonight and needs our prayer
We bring to God a troubled situation in our world
We bring to God, silently, someone whom we find hard to forgive or trust
We bring ourselves to God that we might grow in generosity of spirit, clarity of mind, and warmth of affection
We offer our thanks to God for the blessings in our lives
We name before God those who have died.
Gracious God, you hear all our prayers: those we speak aloud, those we hold in our hearts, and those prayers for which we have no words. Hear the prayers of your people, and grant them as may be best for us, for the sake of your holy name. Amen.
Accept our thanks for all you have done, O God. Our hands were empty, and you filled them.
May Christ’s holy, healing, enabling Spirit be with us every step of the way, and be our guide as our road changes and turns, and the blessing of God our Creator, Redeemer and Giver of life be among us now and remain with us forever. Amen.
Reflections this Month offered by Katie Schmidt
Cover Image: Station II- Jesus Takes up His Cross, De Grazia 1984.
