Friends.
First, thank you. I’m so grateful for the community that this blog and Facebook page represents. It’s such a deep joy to be journeying with you as a rag-tag, delighted-in, contemplative-and-sometimes-crazy community of redeemed souls. I love dwelling in these thin places of silence in an electronic world that so full of sound and fury, and doing it together. I consider it gift.
As Palm Sunday (March 24) approaches, I’ve been considering how I’m going to enter into Holy Week. As I’ve reflected and prayed, I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re going to shift things around a little, both on the blog and on the Page. (By the way, I love that Anne Rice refers to her community as “People of the Page”… I’m starting to wonder if I should call you all “Oblates of Anam Cara.” What do you think?)
So, to enter the hush of Holy Week together, I’m going to slow things down a bit, and gently enter into each day with prayer. Instead of the morning quote or though, I’ll be posting a short prayer that I invite us all to pray together throughout the day. Then, the Midday Meditation will be a short meditation (in blog post form) on one of the traditional icons for Holy Week. If you’re not familiar with meditating on or sitting quietly with icons, Henri Nouwen has a lovely little book called Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying with Icons that opens up this practice in a way that is accessible to Protestant, Catholic or Orthodox.
Then, in place of our artistic afternoons, I’ll be posting an invitation to silence, an image or a Scripture verse that invites us to close our days with openness to the Father and His heart for us this week.
The other thing I’ll be doing (and I’m writing about it and putting it before you so that I don’t chicken out) is writing out letters to those I need to forgive or those from whom I need forgiveness every day of Holy Week. I probably won’t be posting those here, just so you know. They will need either to be sent to the people in question first, or, when that’s not possible or safe for my heart, they will be give to God and processed with my spiritual director (see, even spiritual directors have spiritual directors.) It’s my desire to come to Easter this year, or to let Easter come to me, as free of unforgiveness as possible. Please pray for me in this, as I will pray for you.
In other news, writing has been fruitful recently, and I would love for you to continue to pray for me as I work on the book (especially after the tea + computer incident last month). Believe me, I’m backing up regularly.
There are other very exciting things going on in the background at Anam Cara, and I will be delighted to share those when the time is right. We’re dreaming dreams here, and listening intently for the call of the Spirit to draw us forward into what God has for us all.