Lent, Day Sixteen, Second Thursday of Lent

Lent, Day Sixteen, Second Thursday of Lent
 

POSITIVE POWERLESSNESS 

God became a little baby.Who can be afraid of a little baby?... C5J That's the mystery of the incarnation. God became human, in no way different from other human beings, to break through the walls of power in total weakness. That's the story of Jesus. And how did that story end? It ended on a cross, where the same human person hangs naked with nails through his hands and feet. The powerlessness of the manger has become the powerlessness of the cross.... He hangs there, his flesh torn apart by lead-filled whips, his heart broken by the rejection of his friends and abuse from his enemies, his mind tortured by anguish, his spirit shrouded in the darkness of abandonment-total weakness, total powerlessness. That's how God chose to reveal to us the divine love.


Henri J.M. Nouwen
Finding My Way Home: Pathways to Life and the Spirit, pg 32

Scripture:
27Why do you complain, Jacob?
    Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
    my cause is disregarded by my God”?
²⁸ Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

            Isaiah 40:27-31

 PRAYER

Sustainer God, though I very much wish to be in control, let me recognize the strength of Christ's manger and his cross. Transplant in me your humble heart and your heroic surrender so that I may cast out pride and share in the cup of your tears. Amen.

LENTEN ACTION

Promise yourself that you will maintain a dignified silence(just as Jesus did at his trial), at a point where you are eager to contribute your two-cents' worth or when you feel a strong need to defend yourself from criticism.