It is Finished by Liz Lemon Swindle
Spirituality
Liz Lemon Swindle is one of my favorite contemporary artists. She always captures the essence of the Gospel for me. This painting reminds me of Jesus' words in todays Gospel according to Luke:
"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?"
I find myself too often avoiding the moments when I am called to "lose my life" and expending so much energy to figure out how to "save my life". I find myself looking for ways to take the daily cross of my life and to toss it aside. I don't think I do so consciously, but as I enter upon Lent 2016 I am seeing that this might be so.
Today our celebrant shared a beautiful homily that I would also like to share with you. He talked about what it means to "carry one's cross" and he said to carry one's cross is not just recognizing that my illness or grief or disappointment or injustice suffered is a cross to bear, but that it is an invitation to offer my suffering as a prayer for others. I see this as very true as I gaze upon Christ who willed to suffer as an offering of love and atonement for each of us. He taught us how suffering, no matter how insignificant or great, can all be turned into a gift of love.
There are some in our world who laugh at this. We should seek instant comfort and release from pain. They will do anything to escape illness, suffering and the ultimate pain of death itself. So, they have "solutions" to the suffering of the parents of an unborn challenged child. They have "solutions" for the terminally ill. They have "solutions" of violence when one is faced with life's frustrations. They have "solutions" of payback to the person or person(s) who may hurt or even disagree with them. There is no awareness of the Cross-bearer in this kind of mentality.
Resurrection Spirituality calls me to strive, not only to be with Christ at the final resurrection of our lives, but to also be with him at the daily moments of dying and rising, expressing the same kind of love that he offered for me on the Cross. This means that everything can become a prayer, a rising to a more charitable response to the suffering moments that come my way. When I am invited to take up my cross and offer it for another there is no payback, no retaliation, no "legal" way to permit harm or even death to another. These invitations of grace are called "second resurrections" for they truly become an effort on my part to rise again and again and again.
It is God's love and grace that helps me to begin each day anew. It is God's love and grace that lifts me up when I fall and begin to choose to save my life instead of lose it.
I pray that this same amazing grace will be fruitful in your life, as well as in mine. This is my prayer on this second day of Lent 2016.
Liz Lemon Swindle is one of my favorite contemporary artists. She always captures the essence of the Gospel for me. This painting reminds me of Jesus' words in todays Gospel according to Luke:
"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?"
I find myself too often avoiding the moments when I am called to "lose my life" and expending so much energy to figure out how to "save my life". I find myself looking for ways to take the daily cross of my life and to toss it aside. I don't think I do so consciously, but as I enter upon Lent 2016 I am seeing that this might be so.
Today our celebrant shared a beautiful homily that I would also like to share with you. He talked about what it means to "carry one's cross" and he said to carry one's cross is not just recognizing that my illness or grief or disappointment or injustice suffered is a cross to bear, but that it is an invitation to offer my suffering as a prayer for others. I see this as very true as I gaze upon Christ who willed to suffer as an offering of love and atonement for each of us. He taught us how suffering, no matter how insignificant or great, can all be turned into a gift of love.
There are some in our world who laugh at this. We should seek instant comfort and release from pain. They will do anything to escape illness, suffering and the ultimate pain of death itself. So, they have "solutions" to the suffering of the parents of an unborn challenged child. They have "solutions" for the terminally ill. They have "solutions" of violence when one is faced with life's frustrations. They have "solutions" of payback to the person or person(s) who may hurt or even disagree with them. There is no awareness of the Cross-bearer in this kind of mentality.
Resurrection Spirituality calls me to strive, not only to be with Christ at the final resurrection of our lives, but to also be with him at the daily moments of dying and rising, expressing the same kind of love that he offered for me on the Cross. This means that everything can become a prayer, a rising to a more charitable response to the suffering moments that come my way. When I am invited to take up my cross and offer it for another there is no payback, no retaliation, no "legal" way to permit harm or even death to another. These invitations of grace are called "second resurrections" for they truly become an effort on my part to rise again and again and again.
It is God's love and grace that helps me to begin each day anew. It is God's love and grace that lifts me up when I fall and begin to choose to save my life instead of lose it.
I pray that this same amazing grace will be fruitful in your life, as well as in mine. This is my prayer on this second day of Lent 2016.
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