Coracle Trust E-Reflections
Lent: Receptivity
Monday 14 March 2011
The single clenched fist lifted and ready Or the open asking hand held out and waiting. Choose: For we meet by one or the other. Choose, Carl Sandberg
receptive (rɪˈsɛptɪv)— adj 1. able to apprehend quickly 2. able to hold or receive
Posturing ourselves
Over the next few Mondays leading up to Holy Week, I want – through four passages from scripture – to look at the theme of receptivity. I’m struck by this as a theme appropriate to Lent for several reasons but mainly in seeing it as an aid to posturing ourselves towards the tumultuous events of Easter weekend: the arc from dark to light, from death to life, from doubt to faith. Each aspect of these apparent dualisms is, of course, a necessary part of the journey of faith: the arc does not suggest that we leave one behind in order to live in the other but that both are a necessary and unavoidable part of life. In briefly opening up this theme I will look at receptivity with:
- Penitence (David)
- Patience (Simeon)
- Presence (Mary)
- Persistence (Christ)
And I take as my starting point the beautiful short poem above, 'Choose' by Carl Sandberg. May we journey with hands open during this Lent. Gus MacLeod (Trustee) Continuing the readings through John, 2:1-12