I wanted to say thank you this morning to all of you who followed my Lenten reflections. Without you, I’m sure my discipline would have flagged. Perhaps that’s true of most Lenten disciplines – they flag without community support. Which is why we have gathered together, week after week, to think and reflect and move from our darknesses.
These past six weeks have produced huge changes in some of your lives; for others, the changes have been smaller, the two steps forward, one step back sort of change. Both have their challenges – one is to stay balanced in the midst of crises and the other is to trust the journey really is getting somewhere.
Perhaps today is a good day to reflect on how your journey has progressed. Did you find yourself checking your anger when at another time you might have exploded? You can keep doing that – even if Lent is over. Did you find yourself being gentler when you might have become impatient or releasing an old judgment when you might have remained trapped in tightness? We can all keep up those practices!
Whatever your Lent has been, whether small steps or large, celebrate your changes.
And like a butterfly, stretching its wings after struggling out of a cocoon, fly.
janetsunderland.com 
Your messages are rich with love and caring affection, and I am so proud to have known you for so many years. Loving friendship makes it possible for people to survive the coarse, the mundane, the insensitivities which scatter our paths.
My deepest love for you, your family and your clan. Paul
What a kind thing to say, Paul. Thank you so much. And of course you’re right… our friendships do maintain and feed us through the rough years. I’m glad we still have ours.
My clan is doing okay. Nate moved out to San Diego with Michael but that’s about the only news. much love to you, too. J.
Thank you Janet for leading us through Lent with your thoughts. What I renewed in myself was Paul’s admonition to “live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us” (Eph 5.2)
You’re very welcome, Terry. To “live in love….” that’s the constant challenge isn’t it? Thanks for posting that reminder.
On this rainy Monday morning, I continued to make determined choices, like remembering to flex my joints before attempting to get out of bed and put weight on “challenged” body parts. Like taking my morning coffee/devotional-meditation readings to the kitchen table to watch the birds zoom around rain drops to get the sunflower seeds in the feeders. And that is what Lent 2011 taught me: to slow down enough to make more conscious movements/choices in a more mindful lifestyle. Thank you again, Janet, for being my Reluctant Mentor.
What a great thing to learn Valorie. I certainly join you in that decision and keep reminding myself to step consciously.