Lent - I'm back blogging

When I decided to begin blogging again I couldn't believe that my last Blog was in 2010. Where did the last year go?

I have no reason to believe that anyone who read my blog in the past will be mildly interested in anything I have to say at this point! I will however follow my desire to write again. If anyone reads and responds I will be delighted, if not I will at least have begun the process.

What kept me from this page was life - and death! 2011 presented a great many challenges with a busy work schedule and a busy life. Working with those who are dying and their families enriched my life but ate up my free time. While serving as chaplain in my own facility I began working with Hospice while they sought a new chaplain. It didn't seem I would be adding much to my schedule, and in some ways I didn't, but I did find my focus was directed in ways other than my own personal pursuits. Life now has settled into a slightly more balanced cycle and thus I hope to spend some time on personal reflection and comment.

The photo above is from the trip we had to Gethsemani Abbey, Kentucky in 2010 it seemed a suitable image with which to begin my Lenten journey. As J. Philip Newell says "From God we came to God we shall return" words I find comforting since my personal journey through life has zig-zagged along many a varied path. Some of those paths I am sure were not sanctioned by God, but that in God's mercy I survived and my feet returned sometimes hesitantly and sometimes thankfully to the path. In a way returning to the blank page feels much like placing my feet back on the path, what lies before me is unknown and I will relish what opens up before me.

So far the first steps on the path of Lent this year have been a failure in terms of the lofty plans and disciplines I had designed for myself. Humbling but exhilarating I am aware that forgiving myself and getting back on a simpler path is all I need for the moment. In the past I would have beaten up on myself and focused on the ways in which I sabotaged my life, at this point I can say "O Wise One - so what did you learn?" This week I will be more gentle with myself and I guess that given past experience the journey will be be more fruitful.

The following Haiku is about a stone I picked up on one of my walks. It sits amidst my collection of stones. I choose this as another symbol for my journey.

                  A promise hidden

                  Journey stone, humbly received

                  White, smooth, gently held.

May I receive my Lenten Path as gift.