Following Up On Lent
At the beginning of Lent I wrote about loving it. Now a few weeks after Lent, I need to follow up on it a little.
It ended up being a strange Lent, because two and a half weeks after Ash Wednesday I had a flare-up of existing back pain which landed me in the emergency room twice and in the hospital for two days. Through all of that I took my Lent book and continued to write the daily chants that I had committed to write——and it helped.
It helped because the chants I wrote were connected to the study subjects and then I wrote more chants that connected to pain and healing and chaos. And wherever I was it helped me to sing.
On February 27th I wrote:
Stay Real with God Chant
stay real with God
remember God is love
no need to hide – no need to fear
no need to pretend for God is near
and loves
stay real with God
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On March 12th I wrote:
Ground of Rest Chant
Show me the way out of the maze I’m in,
Guide me in finding your true way,
Pain has slowed me down,
Help me find the ground of rest where you await and heal.
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On March 19th, at home again, and separate from the Lent study, I wrote:
Pain Chant
take away the pain, O God
take away the pain, O God
when it grabs – when it hurts
when there’s nothing else that works
take away the pain, if possible
(whisper) now
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During Holy Week, I started (at least chant-wise) re-writing the book, and on the 39th day of Lent I wrote:
Be In the Middle (Chant)
be in the middle of where it is scarey
be in middle of where there is pain
don’t run away – don’t cover up
stay – and grit your teeth
stay
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I still find Lent challenging, calling to my depths, and I do love it.
Following Up on Lent
