A Lenten Collection
A Lenten Collection
Lent: We walk into the gathering danger & doubt surrounding Jesus as he made choices that led to the Cross.
This is a time of preparation & reflection.
Where have you been this year & where might you be going?
What are the things that have kept your journey on pause?
What are the choices you have made that you would like to revisit?
A Lenten Collection
Welcome to the Lenten Collection of A Deacon’s Musing. I hope these prose & poetic blogs are of use for reflection and listening during these 40 days. Please choose one of the Tabs to the left to explore further.
Silent Words
March 11/09
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Opt-In or Out?
In this 2009 Lenten blog, I was musing and wrestling about the tension of choosing to both enter and stay engaged in organised religion.
Feb 24/12
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|The Fast
In this first 2012 Lenten blog, I mused about what introducing a discipline into our lives might reveal.
Mar 2/12
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Burden Light
In this Lenten blog, I mused – following the 2012 Annual Meeting of the United Church in Meadowood – about how thinking we ‘own’ the Good News quickly becomes a burden.
Mar 9/12
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Authority & Power
Following the Awards Season during Lent in 2012, I wondered about what we mean – as Christian seekers – when we discuss in whom or in what we trust.
Mar 16/12
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Poetry & Remits
In 2012, as the United Church of Canada reviewed some of its foundational documents, I explored that exploration through the power of poetry.
Mar 23/12
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Heroes
In this Lenten blog, I wrestled with what a hero might be from a Christian vantage and whether that differs from what our secular culture celebrates.
Mar 29/12
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Waving Flags
In this Palm Sunday Lenten blog, I mused – with discomfort – whether we are lazy when it comes to endeavouring to live into discipleship?
Apr 5/12
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Resurrected Irreverent
In this Easter Sunday Lenten blog, I explored the tension between faith & religion, literalism & mysticism and whether such discussions distract us from the power that is Resurrection
Feb 14/13
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Abba
For the first week in Lent 2013, I journeyed with the image of God as Male and explores the tension with ‘constructed’ gender.
Feb 21/13
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Kingdom
In the second Lenten week in 2013, I mused about the Kingdom and whether it implies who’s ‘in’ and others who are ‘out.’
Feb 28/13
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Bread
As the third week of Lent 2013 unfolded, I blogged about the third line of the Lord’s Prayer and wondered how prayer & bread connect & sustain.
Mar 8/13
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Forgiveness
In this fourth week of Lent, I asked for what might we need to be forgiven? What does forgiveness mean for you?
Mar 17/13
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Temptation
In this Lenten blog, I explored Temptation from the 5th line of the Lord’s Prayer for this Lenten blog. Anything grab you?
Mar 24/13
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Bullying
In this fifth week of Lent, I mused about bullying, Bill 18, and intolerance dressed in ‘freedom.’
Mar 29/13
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Vignette (Dice)
During this final week in Lent, I reflected on Good Friday and expanded on the story of the soldiers @ the cross.
Mar 7/14
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Wonder
As Lent unfolded in 2014, I reflected on a visit over coffee and mused about the hurt church can cause and the gift in claiming wonder, even in difficult conversations.
Mar 15/14
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Kindness
After hearing a Reflection about ‘kindness,’ I wrestled deeper into the meaning of the word and how – in fact – it may very well be a temptation for those who enjoy privilege!
Mar 23/14
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|War
As the world seemed to square off in Eastern Europe in a way that was reminiscent of Cold War scenarios, I dug into the various puzzles conflict reveals from the vantage of faith. How might faith address the dangers of global scaled conflict?
Mar 28/14
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Lefty
So what does membership mean in The United Church of Canada? Often it’s a point of tension … what if it was a place of wonder? What if it was a process to dig deep into Holy Mystery? Interested? Let’s see where this musing took me!
Apr 4/14
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Poetry
I once again used poetry to muse about Lent. What does fatigue mean as you reflect on the path you find yourself?
Apr 11/14
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|E-Word II
I returned to blog about my ongoing exploration of the word, evangelism. What’s your experience of how the word has been used?
Apr 20/14
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|The Promise
In this final Lenten blog, I explored Easter as The Promise and how art and music might be the best way to convey this gift.
Feb 19/15
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Shadows
In this first Lenten blog of 2015, I attempted to use the images of shadows and light to explain Lent to those for whom the season may be new.
Feb 27/15
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Intention
I mused – in this Lenten blog – about how prayer might be understood as a discipline or practice of intention.
March 5/15
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Forgiveness 2.0
In this Lenten blog, I mused what might the #Lenten discipline of penance mean if it were explored as an act of forgiveness?
March 13/15
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Vignette (Chris)
I explored the last several Lenten blog subjects – intention, forgiveness and shadows & light – through Chris’ story.
March 21/15
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Brokenness
In this final Lenten blog for 2015, I mused about what sin might mean if approached as ‘brokenness.’
Feb 12/16
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Mindfulness
In this first 2016 Lenten blog, I wondered about mindfulness as a an old Christian practice of contemplation and centring.
Feb 26/16
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Generations
In this second 2016 Lenten blog, I mused about how Appreciative Inquiry might help faith-based communities reflect on how their passion can be harnessed to nurture the generations.
March 4/16
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Structures & Passion
In this third 2016 Lenten blog, I asked the following question: As change sweeps through The United Church of Canada, how shall we embrace passion & mission, in order to be energised by transformation’s promise?
March 11/16
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Faith & Dying
In this fourth 2016 Lenten blog, I reflected about the tension and potential of the dance between truth and dying. How might these two dancers – central to the Christian journey – lead us into places of embracing solidarity and sacrifice, even in the face of danger?
March 26/16
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|40 Verses
In this final 2016 Lenten blog, I shared the 40 Verses, which I wrote for each day of Lent. Each Verse was written in Twitter and was paired with an image. Each Verse also reflect the meaning of each corresponding number of the Lenten day. Finally, the accompanying Memes, which are displayed in the 4 galleries, are the result of that poetic Lenten discipline.
Mar 3/17
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Vignette (An Ant)
In this first 2017 Lenten Vignette feature, I found an ant wanting to talk to the church. What do you think an ant might have to say to the church during times of transition and change? How might an ant describe Baptism & how the ritual connects us & Creation?
Mar 10/17
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Vignette (A Garden)
In this 2017 Lenten Vignette feature, I found seem to have introduced a garden as a musing character. What might a garden have to say to the church about community, mission, the role of food & hospitality in welcoming the Stranger without condition or expectation?
Mar 17/17
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Vignette (Gunn’s Stone)
In this third 2017 Lenten Vignette feature, it seems that I was imagining what might a headstone have to say about Indigenous, non-Indigenous & Métis history & how the act of remembering might help us collectively live into right relations …
Mar 24/17
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Vignette (The Microphone)
In this fourth 2017 Lenten Vignette feature, a rather self-confident microphone is answering a question about how it helps faith communities find their voice by sharing Little J’s story …
Mar 31/17
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Vignette (McCrae’s Table)
In this final 2017 Lenten Vignette feature, what might a 165-year-old oaken table have to tell the church about how to harness tension & conflict well, in order to embrace what is best for the community?
Feb 16/18
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Giving Up Control
In this first 2018 Lenten blog, I was musing about the following: As Canadian society wrestles to live into reconciliation and address the challenge of #MeToo, what might it mean to give up control?
Feb 23/18
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Giving Up Expectations
In this second 2018 Lenten blog, I was musing about the following: As we take a deep breath & pause, what might be discovered if we let go of our expectations & listened for the Sacred whispering?
March 02/18
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Giving Up Superiority
In this third 2018 Lenten blog, I was musing about the following: As Canadian civil society wrestles with reconciliation & #MeToo, what might reflecting on superiority & letting it go mean in times of change?
March 09/18
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Giving Up Enemies
In this fourth 2018 Lenten blog, I was musing about the following: What if moments of enmity were lived out as opportunities to be generous & gracious toward the Stranger, the Other, the Enemy?
March 16/18
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Giving Up Our Lives
In this fifth 2018 Lenten blog, I was musing about the following: What happens if, in places of community & safety, we explore letting go of our lives to be freed to be compassion & more fully human?
March 23/18
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Giving Up Popularity
In this sixth 2018 Lenten blog, I was musing about the following: How might we curate confidence in one another, while letting go of our egos, & so bear light into shadowed times?
March 30/18
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Giving Up Death
In this final 2018 Lenten blog, I was musing about the following: What might we see, even in death’s presence, should we focus upon a narrative of hope? What might resurrection, as a literal & metaphorical dance, reveal?
February 14-March 30/18
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|2018 Lenten Hope
In this 2018 Lenten collection, I collate the 40 stories of hope that were shared on each of the 40 Lenten days in 2018.
March 6-April 21/19
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|2019 Lenten Hope
In this 2019 Lenten collection, I collate the 40 stories of hope that were shared on each of the 40 Lenten days in 2019.
April 2/20
A Deacon’s Musing: Lent|Vignette (The River)
In this 2020 Lenten addition to the Vignette feature, I was exploring the following question: “In the midst of COVID-19, what wisdom might the River have to offer?”
February 26-April 12/20
A Deacon’s Musing: #LentPhotoADay 2020
In this 2020 Lenten blog, I was using a variation of the #ReThinkChurch 2020 #LentPhotoADay. I used #CCO Creative Commons images that grabbed my attention based on each word of the day throughout the Lenten Season.
April 6/21
A Deacon’s Musing: From Holy Saturday to Resilience’s Promise
This Reflection was offered during the final Saskatoon Theological Union chapel service for the 2020-21 academic year. It was led by St. Andrew’s College on April 6th, 2021. In this time, I was exploring change in the midst of COVID-19
February 17-April 4/21
A Deacon’s Musing: #LentPhotoADay 2021
In this 2021 Lenten blog, I was using a variation of the #ReThinkChurch 2020 #LentPhotoADay. I used #CCO Creative Commons images that grabbed my attention based on each word of the day throughout the Lenten Season.
March 2-April 17/22
A Deacon’s Musing: #LentPhotoADay 2022
In this 2022 Lenten blog, I was using a variation of the #ReThinkChurch 2020 #LentPhotoADay. I used #CCO Creative Commons images that grabbed my attention based on each word of the day throughout the Lenten Season.
February 22-April 09/23
A Deacon’s Musing: #LentPhotoADay 2023
In this 2023 Lenten blog, a variation on the #ReThinkChurch 2024 #LentPhotoADay Challenge, I will use #CC0 Creative Commons images that grab my attention based on each word of the day throughout the Lenten Season.
Thank you, Richard, your Lenten reflections have been very meaningful for me. Especially this last one. I was very moved, inspired, uplifted by the young people’s march on Washington and in so many cities around the world. I could not help but raise it up as a sign of hope last weekend while offering a meditation on the triumphant entry, the path to death…and the ultimate resurrection. Journey well, my friend, and continue to share your inspired interpretations with the world. With warm regards, Terrie
Sister Terrie – what a kindness on this Good Friday to hear your voice and your reflection. There is indeed much hope in our midst and too often our attention can be distracted. Your helpful reminder helps me on this walk into Holy Saturday and the Easter moment!