Apr
2022 April Blog by Ginny Douglas ~ It’s April and we’re well into Lent. But truth be told, I’m still struggling with what I “gave up for Lent.” I gave up Gloom. My intentions were pure enough. Probably like you, I’m sick and tired of moaning over everything. Enough already! This is our third Lent of living with Covid. I’m grateful for progress with precautions and vaccines. But people got sick; people died. And it’s not really gone, we just have to “live with it.” Kinda gloomy. And winter played a bit of a trick on us this year. Three months’ worth of snow and ice compacted into two months. It got kind of intense and yes, gloomy. And now Ukraine. Millions displaced, untold sufferings and more threatened. Feelings of helplessness. Talk about gloom. Everywhere we look there’s gloom.
How do I deeply care about the world and yet not give in to gloom? Well, here’s my tactic. I have a new favorite phrase and it’s “and yet.” Yes, terrible things happen. And yet…I have a God who teaches that all is never lost. Beautiful things happen too. Sometimes in the most unlikely ways. Of course, loss happens, and yet, something can be redeemed from everything. I may have to search, yearn and wait for it, but redemption is the promise of Easter. And this is where Centering Space comes in. Inside these old brick walls is a safe place to share struggles. It’s a place that reminds me that “sorrow shared is sorrow divided and joy shared is joy multiplied.” At Centering Space the door is open and the coffee is on. There is companionship here where we can remind one another that the world needs our love and concern, but not our gloom. There may be gloom in the world, and yet I’m not called to live there. I’m called to live into the redemption. That’s my Lenten practice. Yes, Lent, and yet, at the end of Lent waits Easter.
Thanks, Ginny! Such a beautiful and hopeful reminder to cling to God’s Love, no matter what. I’m reading this at my kitchen table and after a gloomy morning – the sun is just beginning to peek through the clouds. Gloomy – and yet!
What a lovely Lenten reflection, Ginny!! And yet….balances us – reminds us – encourages us. We can hold both pain and joy all at once. During Lent and Holy Week, Resurrection is happening every day – may we have eyes to see and ears to hear! thank you!
Dear Ginny,
Thank you for your message. I too seek to live in Easter amidst the struggles within and around.
Thank God for God and for new life. Thank you for including me in this blog and in this lovely company.
Becky
Thank for a new tool for my mental tool box.