I like Abram\u2019s\nresponse when God offered him a covenant (Genesis 15:1-18). Abram\u2019s fear and\nquestions grew into faith and led to an elaborate sacrifice. Abram\u2019s openness\nto the promptings of God demonstrates how to live into our Lenten journeys. I\nhad a God appearance years ago in the holy land, though not nearly as dramatic\nas Abram\u2019s theophany. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a young\nman, I volunteered for four weeks of work at Nazareth Hospital. I had dropped\nout of college after my freshman year, and three Mennonite buddies and I\ntraveled for six months throughout the Middle East and Europe. We were on our\nown with almost no communication home for the entire time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One Sunday\nafternoon at Nazareth Hospital, we Mennonite guys, five British fellows, and\nfour Arab nurses took a walk to see Mt. Tabor, the traditional site of the\nTransfiguration. Young men from the local community confronted us and did not\nlike seeing single Brits and Americans escorting Arab female nurses on a long\nwalk. It stirred my anger, and though we got through that uncomfortable event\nwithout incident, it took all of my restraint and nonresistance teachings to\nrefrain from pushing back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nexperienced Holy Spirit transformation while working at the international\nNazareth Hospital, visiting Mennonite missionaries in Israel, taking a trip into\nthe Sinai, and camping along the Red Sea. I had been seeking God\u2019s leading in\nmy life, uncertain that I would ever reenroll in my Mennonite college back\nhome. In the womb of supportive Christian leaders in Israel, travels around the\ncountry, and a revelation I received while camping on the sands of the Red Sea\ncoast, I was transformed. That revelation of faith pointed me back toward\nVirginia to finish college, which I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year, a\nday before Ash Wednesday, a student asked me if I had considered giving up\nanything for Lent. I hadn\u2019t, though, by that evening, I sensed an inner nudge\nto give up recorded music. Giving up my music is a big deal. I listen to music\nin my study when I research, write, and grade papers. I turn on the radio in my\nJeep when I drive around town, and I listen to favorite tunes when I exercise.\nI\u2019ve given up recorded music for Lent, though not live music; my life has suddenly\nturned much quieter and more reflective. It\u2019s through a new lens that I read the\ngospel narrative describing how the devil tempted Jesus for forty days in the\nwilderness (Luke 4:1-2). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To respond to the promptings of faith, I think, means accepting change, remaining open to new ideas, living into creative possibilities, and taking untraveled paths. It\u2019s exciting to stay open to the promptings of faith, to see what new roads lie ahead, and to receive grace-filled blessings, like God\u2019s covenant offered to Abram so many years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Mennonite<\/em> Lent Reflection https:\/\/themennonite.org\/lent-promptings-faith\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I like Abram\u2019s response when God offered him a covenant (Genesis 15:1-18). Abram\u2019s fear and questions grew into faith and led to an elaborate sacrifice. Abram\u2019s openness to the promptings of God demonstrates how to live into our Lenten journeys. I had a God appearance years ago in the holy land, though not nearly as … Continue reading Lent: the promptings of faith<\/span>