Wednesday Wonder (on a Thursday) – March 6, 2025

Ash Wednesday. That is my excuse for this being a Thursday Thunder (thanks to a friend, who shall remain nameless, for the alternate name) instead of a Wednesday Wonder.

I was asked several times this past week what I am giving up for Lent this year. I bet you were all thinking it might be Wednesday Wonder when it didn’t show up in your inbox yesterday.

This year, rather than give up, I am taking up, and trying to be ever more intentional about my prayer life. Last year, I began my radiation treatments on Ash Wednesday and I asked everyone to give me their prayer requests so that I could pray through my treatments. Turns out, radiation doesn’t actually take that long and many days I didn’t get through the list of needs before I was finished. I took the rest of the needs with me and continued my prayers when I got back to my office, or home.

Once my treatments were done, as was Lent, I sort of fell away from that intentional daily practice. Seemed that Lent this year was a perfect opportunity to try again. This year, I am hoping everyone will help keep the prayers going. There is a Lenten Prayer Group who are praying with their pens each day and gathering on Sundays to pray together. There is a prayer-a-day topic in the Lenten calendar. (If you didn’t already get one there are still some copies on the table in the narthex.) And there is a world in so much need of grace, mercy, love and connection, that forgetting to pray seems impossible. And there is no lack of people, places and situations to pray for each day.

One thing I am being more intentional about is praying the hard prayers. A couple of weeks ago, my sermon talked about praying for those who are hard to pray for because they are what we would call bad and/or difficult people. Those who seem irredeemable in our eyes. Remembering that sometimes those are the people who are most in need of prayer spurs a few words, even if done grudgingly. Including one such person or group each day is the intentional part of my prayers.

Lent is a wonderful time to focus on prayer. Lent is about a time of repentance, turning around, reorienting. Prayer helps us do that, especially if we remember that prayer is a conversation between each of us and God. Taking the time to let God speak is important. Lent allows us to quiet our hearts and minds as we turn, or return, to God. Sitting in silence is not something everyone is comfortable doing. I have to work at it. You may have noticed, I’m a talker!

God tends to speak in the silence. God’s voice can often be very quiet. Like trying to calm down a toddler or diffuse a difficult situation, the quiet voice often does more than the loud talking and shouting. God makes us stop and listen to hear what is being said.

Guess we could say I have taken up listening to God better for Lent. Sitting and allowing God to speak before I rush in with my litany of concerns, issues and tirades about things I cannot change 

I invite you to join me on this Lenten prayer journey. It may seem easy. A few minutes each day to talk to God. The more challenging part may be the listening to God’s part of the conversation. For inspiration, I share a reminder based on Psalm 46:10:

Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.

Peace,
Rev. Mary-Jane