“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, fix your mind on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9
Lent is for me a time to quiet my mind and be still and thoughtful. This was never more needed than at the dawn of the pandemic. Lent of 2020 was a time of great fear for many of us. It was very hard to fix our minds on anything but our terror of what would come tomorrow.
Just a few months before everything went sideways, after living in the hustle and bustle of downtown DC for years, I bought a house in the suburbs in central Connecticut so that I would be able to more fully enjoy my extended family. God found me a pretty house at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac with Bugby Woods as one of my next-door neighbors. That March, I took to walking my dog around the neighborhood. I will never forget the stillness. The earth had never seemed that quiet. Even more lovely, though, was how birdsong cut through the stillness, showering anyone in the vicinity with God’s beauty. The daffodils, tulips, and precious little violets stubbornly and triumphantly pushing up through the earth reminded me that as a creation of God, I can also be strong, brave, and constant like a spring flower because the God of peace is
in me and with me always.
Exaltabo te, Deus.
Sherill Mason
Links to the appointed readings and prayer for today:
