March 23/Second Saturday of Lent For as the heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.As far as the east is from the west, so far has he put our transgressions from us. ~ Ps 103.11-12 Forgiveness is out of fashion. It is seen in many quarters as a sign of weakness.…
Song 15: How Firm a Foundation
March 22/Second Friday of Lent When the LORD called down a famine on the land and ruined the crop that sustained them, He sent a man before them, Joseph, sold as a slave. ~ Ps 105.16-17 A non-profit group I work with refers often to its founder, a pioneering businesswoman and formidable preservationist, whose never-say-die mentality, scrappy determination, and tireless…
Song 14: Dust in the Wind
March 21/Second Thursday of Lent They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither.Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. For the Lord watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes. ~ Ps…
Song 13: Prowlers
March 20/Second Wednesday of Lent For I hear the whispering of many—terror all around!— as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” ~ Ps 31.13-14 When at the gym, I occasionally toggle between MSNBC and Fox News, which happen to be abutting (not…
Song 12: Count On Me
March 19/Second Tuesday of Lent [God said,] “Forever I will keep my steadfast love for him, and my covenant with him will stand firm.” ~ Ps 89.29 The ease with with which we can conduct and manage our relationships electronically — “unfriending” someone on FaceBook, texting a last-minute cancellation of plans to a friend, “ghosting” a jilted lover on a variety…
Song 11: Age to Age
March 18/Second Monday of Lent Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors . . . Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power preserve those doomed to die.Then we your people, the flock of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise. …
Song 10: Our End of the Bargain
March 16/First Saturday of Lent Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD.Blessed are they who observe his decrees, who seek him with all their heart. I will observe your statutes; do not utterly forsake me. ~ Ps 119. 1-2, 8 Covenant, as any lawyer can attest, is simply another word for an…
Song 9: Getting Down
March 15/First Friday of Lent If you, O LORD, mark iniquities, LORD, who can stand?But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered. ~ Psalm 130.3-4 For me, forgiveness is one of the hardest imperatives of faith. I know that holding onto anger or resentment harms me more than it affects the perceived offender, and I know, too, that…
Song 8: Call and Response
March 14/First Thursday of Lent On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul. ~ Ps 138.3 Many years ago, when I was a graduate student in a venerable British university, I would wander of an afternoon into my college’s cathedral for Evensong. With candles flickering against the damp dark of the declining day, the…
Song 7: Me Do It
March 13/First Wednesday of Lent Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. ~ Ps 51.4, 12 Anyone who has been fortunate enough to live with a two-year-old knows that the drive towards doing-it-yourself begins early in life. Pulling a mismatched shirt…