Lent Redux

RENEWAL OF OUR COMMITMENT TO EACH OTHER

If you've been reading my boring musings for a year, you know that I posted a blog about Lent last year.

Lent is my favorite liturgical season. Last year literally changed my life. I know that sounds mellow-dramatic and over stated, but it is the truth. I have a relationship with my mother that I did not have before Lent last year.

So now, what to do this year~ Like I said before, I prefer to take something on, rather than give something up.

In this season of self-examination and prayer, I want to focus my thoughts and prayers on how I may be a source of healing grace for the people in my life.

I plan to accomplish this by focused and intense centering prayer every evening including the lighting of candles. I want to work to create an atmosphere of peace around those I love and around those that I don't love so much~

I have given a lot of thought to tolerance since the presidential election in the USA. I've decided that I HATE the words tolerate and tolerance. I can tolerate a barking dog. I want to pay more attention to respecting and listening to people who are different from me without insisting that they become like me in order to be acceptable and respectable to me.

I repeat the line "respect the dignity of every human being" every time I attend Eucharist, just like all of my fellow Episcopal parishioners. It is part of my Baptismal Covenant. I believe what I am saying when it comes to sexual orientations and gender identities, those of all races and cultures, and those of all classes and abilities.

I fall short in respecting people with traditional Protestant and conservative political beliefs. They are the enemy to my beliefs. I'll never believe like they do, but I want to accept, respect, listen and befriend them just as they are. I have hope that they will do the same.

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A note from last year:

I got a couple of private notes about my post last year regarding the quote about women at the end. I said then and I'll say now - the word women, woman can be replaced with men or man without changing the meaning. I used the word woman because I am a woman.