Photo Courtesy of Bonfire Health
Blue Water
On Ash Wednesday, I attended the imposition of ashes services at the United Methodist Building, marking the beginning of Lent. Dr. Carol Cook Moore of Wesley Theological Seminary preached the service and invited us "not to give up something for Lent, or even to take on something for Lent," but instead to simply inhabit the holy space that Lent provides.
That evening, I opened the door to my new basement apartment to find two inches of water covering every inch of the floor. After calling the management company, notifying my upstairs neighbors, verifying the source of the abundantly flowing water, and texting my friends who live around the corner, I had a choice. Either I could freak out and wring my hands in despair (which my close friends would expect to be my response), or I could jump in and salvage what I could by moving boxes and books to higher ground. My neighbors (my heroes) arrived quickly and we made a plan of action. Soon, a plumber and contractors arrived and they fixed the broken pipe and were suctioning the water as fast as they could. When it was all said and done, all that was lost was a couple rugs and two books from seminary. And you know what? It's just stuff.
I took Dr. Cook Moore's invitation with all seriousness that evening. And invite you to do the same. No matter if we give something up or take something on, it's just stuff. But the space we inhabit - the world, the physical and spiritual places - those are holy spaces where the God who created and claims us meets us. In that moment, the flood was a holy space for me, even if for just a moment. This Lent, I hope you find holy spaces, even in a world where floods of war, injustice, and oppression seem to rage around us. For it is in those holy spaces where we can choose a new way of being to pour out grace to ourselves and to one another.
Chett Pritchett is executive director of the Methodist Federation for Social Action. This article is reprinted with permission from the MFSA newsletter.