My grandchildren and I love to bake cookies! Some of the ingredients are the same, like flour, eggs, and sugar. While other ingredients are unique to the kind of cookie. These unique ingredients could possibly be cream cheese, peanut butter, chocolate chips or coffee. Whatever goes into the cookie shapes and molds the identity of the final product. It seems there are endless combinations of ingredients for cookies!
The Scripture
God has a unique recipe for shaping identity of each individual and community. Take the Israelites for instance in the Scripture from Exodus 13:17- 14:31. For hundreds of years, they endured captivity in Egypt. During captivity they learned what life routines needed to be lived in Egypt. The Israelites had families and friends. Yet, there was more than surface and circumstantial living that was within the Hebrew people. Their identity was shaped by captivity circumstance but it was the special ingredients, devotion, and steadfast hope in God’s deliverance that made them unique. God formed them in love, stamina, endurance through the most difficult circumstance. Finally, after years of slavery and numerous plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians, Moses was permitted to lead the people to freedom. It was then that the community of the faithful entered the desert.
I can only imagine how the God-Lovers felt as they exited captivity. The joy-filled assurance that God was leading life could have bubbled over. Or maybe the fear of entering the unknow may have haunted them. Was there excitement to see how God would bless their lives through freedom from captivity and bring them new possibility? Truly the Words from the prophet Jeremiah may have sounded in their hearts as they trusted God to lead them forward.
For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. (Jeremiah 29:11, NRSV)
It is relatively easy to be obedient to God when life is going the way that we desire. When we believe that our dreams and long-awaited goals in life are on the edge of being fulfilled. It is then that hope that often gives us strength to move forward into the unknown. Especially as we advance into uncharted territory when we can notice how God is leading us forward, surrounding us and protecting our lives. However, when life is filled with anxiety, stress, fears, injustices, and oppression temptation to assimilate to others ways of decision making, and life orientation may arise.
The Israelites story of deliverance from slavery to gain a new identity may encourage our steadfast trust of God even through the most difficult. The pathway way to resurrection is not just good times and great joy. Often bumps, bruises, grumbles, fears, trials, temptation, and complaint may arise. But God breathes deeply with us though the joyous-good times and the disillusioned and despairing times often guiding our lives from the background. Yet, the human experience of spiritual and emotional ups and downs of the journey through the desert to new freedom is our life-long adventure which is truly God’s recipe for shaping the identity of the faithful community.
As you continue this trek into the desert, seeking the wisdom of our desert mothers and fathers, I wonder if you too will have a journey of joys and hardships as you allow God to shape anew and ever deepening identity of Christ Incarnate within you. The Lenten desert is a terrain of life filled with surprises.
Invitation for Contemplation and Journaling
Today you will ponder the insightful and powerful presence of God as you consider “going to your cell”, that spiritual heart within and notice how God is forming your identity in Christ as you journey toward resurrection possibility. The focus of today’s letter writing experience is upon insights and wisdom gleaned from the desert trek of the Israelites in Exodus.
Contemplative Experience
Please plan a two-step approach for each daily devotional. First, read the devotional and mentally review the reflection questions. This could be your morning devotional time. That way you can contemplate on the material throughout your day. The questions are simply to prime the heart’s creative imagination in preparation for writing your Love Letter to God and your imagined response from God. Your Love Letter portfolio is your gift of this process. It is to be a written record of how you and God companion one another through this season. It is the inward formational journey of these six weeks during which you may find yourself becoming God’s Love Letter to others through your daily life.
At the end of the day, center yourself before God in silence and solitude for writing your Love Letters. To begin, enter your sacred space and invite God into your awareness. This invitation may begin with the repetition of your favorite name for God silently in your mind. This may look like focusing your mind and heart upon the name Jesus: Jesus… Jesus… Jesus…Take an intentional breath slowly in through your nose as the Divine presence of the risen Christ breathes into you. Let that breath of Jesus float slowly down your throat, into your lungs and imagine it going into each cell of your body. After a moment – exhale slowly and let the air escape through your slightly parted lips. With this exhale let the stale air carry away resistances and busyness of your day, so that you may come fully into God’s presence. Repeat this breathing invitation to God several times before moving to the next step of contemplation and journaling.
Morning: In preparation for writing your Love Letters, mentally consider the following queries. There is no need to write responses unless that is helpful for you to focus in writing your Love Letter to God.
- Use imaginative prayer throughout your day with the text from Exodus.
- Imagine what it felt like to leave behind everything you know, even if you really wanted to go into a new place. What is it like for you to move away from familiarity and into the unknown?
- The Israelites are not led by the common path. God leads them into the wilderness off the beaten path where merchants and other travelers were. What uncommon path does God lead you on?
- Are there visible signs, felt sense sensations, or images that grant you assurance of God’s presence on your uncommon pathway? If so, what are they?
- God yearns to reveal God’s self to you in new and inspiring ways during your trek into the desert. As you sit quietly in The Cell of your heart, what Word do you hear God whisper to you? How could you imagine this Word will sustain you through the desert journey?
- What are the unique ingredients of your experience and God’s presence that shape your life?
- God is forming your identity as you share your wisdom, insights and presence by joining with the ammas and abbas wisdom from the desert through your readings. What has shaped your heart this week?
- What questions arise for you around your word from scripture as God invites you into this season of Lent?
Writing your Love Letter to God
Evening: Continue your time of prayer in the evening after a contemplative day with pen in hand and imagination open before God. Today’s Love Letter to God focuses on your word that you discerned from scripture. Consider:
- How will you address God? Maybe you will use “Dear God”, possibly something more extravagant such of “To my Heart’s Love.” Be as creative and free in expression as your soul desires as you write to God.
- What do you imagine that you could whisper to God about the Scripture? Maybe your Love Letter to God will focus upon how you are continuing this Lenten trek with God’s resounding Word. Are there fears, joys, concerns that you would like to express to God?
- How will you close your letter. Might you close in gratitude, humility, or another posture of love?
Next write the imaged response letter from God to you. This may take a leap of faith. Possibly a conversation with a spiritual director may be helpful to open imagination for how God whispers to your heart. Consider your image of God. Is God a judge, a Shepherd, inclusive Love, or perhaps the Vine to your branches? How does your image of God influence your imagined response letter from God.
What do you imagine God longs to whisper to your heart in response to your Love Letter to God?
- How does God feel about what you have written?
- How does God embrace and care for your concerns, or celebrate your joys?
- Sit silently and listen. Imagine how God desires to write a letter back to you. How does God address you in the greeting of the letter? What feelings are expressed within the letter from God to you? Try to look at yourself through God’s eyes and heart. Remember in your imagination that God looks upon the inward nature of those whom God loves. Your image of God will shape how you imagine God would respond to your Love Letter.
- How does God close this Love Letter to you?
With these two letters, the one you write to God and God’s imagined response to you, you continue your portfolio of becoming a living Love Letter to God. You may desire to create a cover page for your love letters so that you can store them in a binder or possibly create a folder upon the computer just for your Lenten love letters. Upon completion of your letters, pause for a moment of silent thanksgiving for God’s resounding Word and love in life.
After giving thanks for uncovering God’s presence through your word discovery and writing your Love Letters to God and to you from God, re-read your own words. Be gentle with yourself. You are not evaluating what is written. Simply come to the text with the wonder if God has any other wisdom or words to share with you through this archeological reading of your words. If you discover any further insight from God, you are free to add to your portfolio with additional resounding Words of wisdom.
When you have completed praying, place your Love Letter portfolio on your altar table or in the absence of a table, bring it to your heart in an embrace. Offer a prayer of gratitude for all the gifts of God’s insights. You may use this prayer or one of your own.
Holy Precious Lord, you are ever faithful. You guide me, protect me and give me courage to move from where I have been to where you desire me to be. Grant me eyes to see your very real presence in the midst of my life. Become for me, a Pillar of Fire leading me through these next six weeks so that I may surrender to your will and your ways for my life. Help me to see what I am holding onto that keeps me from fully entering your wilderness of heart. Transform all that is within me as I seek you with the fullness of my desire. May it be so as I walk with my companions through this time in the desert and your Word Incarnate resounds within my heart and shapes my identity to live as you love. Amen.
