As I look to the waves glistening on the horizon, it’s not fear and uncertainty in my heart, but gratitude for the joy and happiness that is only more extraordinary in reflection.

Today’s readings bring me back to something I wrote on Ash Wednesday: this season can I lay down what I think I know and let God drive me into the wilderness with Jesus?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Having grown up in a large, Irish Catholic family in the Tipperary Hill neighborhood of Syracuse, NY, where everyone was a communicant of St. Patrick’s Church, and where St. Patrick’s Day has always been a major day of celebration, it’s been especially interesting for me to be thinking about St. Patrick this year while in the midst of the St. John’s course, Guides in the Wilderness, Journeying with the Saints through Lent, which has been fascinating.

I think much of religion over the centuries has been too rooted in the "Thou shalt not" rather than the positive actions of its members. I know this is why so many say they are against "organized" religion. I truly think that this is one of the reasons I found a home in St John's. We don't seem overly bound by dogma but more about praying with our feet, as Anne has so often reminded us.

When I look back I see one constant woven through my life. The thread of God’s love and mercy. When I think of a hope for the future I hold tight to the same thread. It’s God’s gift. The gift that we all have to hold on to as we navigate the inevitable transitions in life.

For over 20 years i divided my season of Lent between the latter and with a Jewish Family at their Seder table while enjoying traditional food and singing centuries old songs.

Are we listening?

Taken out of context, this is a perplexing passage. Within the Gospel context, Jesus follows these words with examples that reveal what “fulfilling the law” would mean. It’s not just outward obedience to the law. It’s an inward transformation of the heart from anger and hatred and self-seeking to a heart filled with love and forgiveness and generosity.

Don’t Worry. Pray. Be Grateful

I need this reminder. So often, I think I know exactly the right solution to some puzzle in my life. However, almost never has what I had in mind been the best option. And maybe the real problem is that I stay within my assumptions. I dream too small.

We have a sign in our kitchen which reminds me “Life is fragile ~ Handle with prayer!”

The people who end up leading, sharing their stories, and holding space for their peers are the rejected stones. They are the stones who were once thrown away for chips, cracks, perceived imperfections, or even stones that were shattered beyond obvious use.

But most importantly, as the Psalm tells me: My times are in Your hand

Those times will pass, as times do. I take great comfort in that thought.

The Gospel reading in Matthew 23:1-12 provided me with a lot to think about. And while processing those thoughts, I kept coming back to the notion of following God’s will as I strive to be who I am.

For me, Lent has become an invitation to a time of introspection and intention. I humbly pray that each day provides an opportunity to grow in my relationship with God and to better hear God and to understand how I can try to do his will here on Earth.

Our hearts will point us to just and right relationship with others if we trust that humans are made for good, and learn the discernment skills to act justly. Humans know truth and justice in their deepest, truest depths. Fear and anxiety impede our deepest knowing.

In the 1980s, when Susan and I met, she was asked by our St. John’s friend, Father Warren Deane, how it was working out. She replied positively, with the caveat that I was still something of a “secular humanist.” “Give him a chance,” Warren suggested, “Some of my best friends are secular humanists!”