Lenten Greetings, Beloveds!
Author, artist, and United Methodist minister Jan Richardson is someone I often turn to for inspiration and challenge. As our journey through Lent gets underway, I want to share with you the opening of her blessing, Beloved Is Where We Begin.
If you would enter
into the wilderness,
do not begin
without a blessing.
Do not leave
without hearing
who you are:
Beloved,
named by the One
who has traveled this path
before you.
Do not go
without letting it echo
in your ears,
and if you find
it is hard
to let it into your heart,
do not despair.
That is what
this journey is for.
This Sunday we will hear the story of Jesus being led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. Jesus enters the wilderness right after his baptism in the Jordan, with God’s proclamation of “Beloved” still echoing within him. Jesus’ forty days there are full of challenges. When Jesus emerges, he embarks on his Galilean ministry. You too are Beloved. If that is hard for you to believe, remember as Jan writes, “That is what this journey is for.”
Peace be with you,
Sarah+
The Rev. Sarah Akes-Cardwell (she/her)
Interim Priest Associate
Links to the appointed readings for today:
Hear the audio version of this meditation on SoundCloud. Subscribe to Pathways Through Lent and other podcasts here.
Beloved Is Where We Begin © Jan Richardson. janrichardson.com.
