Find out more about my Let Go of Unlove series for Lent & Easter • Check out my bookshelf of favorite reads during Lent • Take out or gift an annual subscription this month to enter a drawing to win a copy of Holiness Here by Karen Stiller1—see February’s winner below.
Scroll down to learn about my new series, Let Go of Unlove for Lent, beginning on Wednesday.
Lent begins on Wednesday, but mortality is always on my mind in March. I will turn 54 on the 9th, which is definitely getting my attention this year. I will spend my birthday at one of my favorite places—St. Francis Springs Prayer Center— with some of my favorite people—Selah Anglican Spiritual Direction faculty and interns. During the residency, we will spend some time without speaking, eating a few meals in awkward silence and walking in the North Carolina woods looking for signs of spring. We will also sit for hours in uncomfortable chairs but won’t mind much because the teaching and conversation will be brilliant. We will practice holy listening and try to learn how to ask better questions. And, even though it's Lent, we will spend a surprising amount of time laughing over delicious snacks and beverages.
During one of the residency's most cherished traditions, we will share the state of our souls in a kind of contemplative show-and-tell. I’m uncertain what object I will bring to share with the group, but it will likely be the coloring page I recently posted on social media. It’s a feelings tracker created by my friend Amy Barker Willers, and it has been helping me recognize the rough patch of anxiety I've been experiencing this February.
Naming our emotions is an act of prayer, an acknowledgment of our need. I am learning that not all emotions need to be expressed, but they do need to be acknowledged. Unless something dramatically shifts in the next few days, I will be experiencing an anxious heart as we enter Lent on Wednesday.
There is no "right" emotion to bring with you into Lent, but there is an invitation: "Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart...”
For years, I have wanted to write more about the everyday gestures and postures of true love. The idea of love is overused as a religious, rhetorical mic drop, and, as a theology student, I want to amplify the voices of the church from different times and places. I hope to help all of us recognize our cultural blind spots. The beautiful language of "agape" resonates with me. As a contemplative writer, I seek to create space for us to expand our imaginations and enhance our ability to embody love in good, true, and beautiful ways. So, for Lent this year, I’m exploring four postures of cruciform love given to us in 1 Corinthians 13: bearing, believing, hoping, and enduring all things. These are the postures of a love that never dies.
Whatever the state of your soul, now is the appropriate time to return to the Lord with all your heart. And, if you would like encouragement throughout Lent, now is a good time to subscribe to my Lenten series.
What I’m looking forward to this month:
Shrove Tuesday-related celebrations + pancakes
Ash Wednesday with our church family
Snowdrops, crocuses, tulips and daffodils (one can hope!)
The daily art in my Lent Daybook meditations
related: Art & Theology’s new playlist: God’s Love, featuring “songs about the abounding, ever-present love of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a love that seeks, heals, and transforms.”
Visiting Natalie in Charlottesville!!
The prayer labyrinth at St. Francis Springs
Annual re-watch of Once
Podcast catchup when I travel, starting with this episode: Sheila Wise Rowe on Trauma, Peace and Healing
The Irish Coast as my background white noise.
This recipe for chicken, rice, and caramelized lemons (have you heard of this?)
New season of Tournament of Champions
Mid-term exams. I should say, completed midterm exams.
While sharing links, here is my conversation with Karen Stiller, the author of Holiness Here, last year during Lent.
Shared Silent Hours
An hour of companionable, communal silence for those who want more contemplative space but find it hard to settle in on their own. No talking, just making space together, and of course you can do what you like in that time - read, pray, journal, draw, knit, do yoga, or stare out the window. For these sessions, you’ll have the option of going ‘camera on’, which can help to anchor you in the space. Or not. It’s totally up to you.2
I will hold space for you these four Sunday evenings:
Sunday, March 16, 6 pm - 7 pm Eastern
Sunday, March 23, 6 pm - 7 pm Eastern
Sunday, March 30, 6 pm - 7 pm Eastern
Sunday, April 13, 6 pm - 7 pm Eastern
Zoom links will go out to paid subscribers in the Sunday Daybook posts.
If you think a friend or loved one would enjoy Restful by Tamara Hill Murphy, gift subscriptions are available here | Website | Follow me: Notes Instagram FB
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Congratulations to Tiffany Ayres for winning this month’s giveaway! I can’t wait to hand you Karen Stiller’s wonderful book!
I’m thankful for this idea from Katherine May’s always excellent invitations at The Clearing.
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