This Lent, we invite you to take some time to lament that which you and others have lost. In her essay, “Four Steps of Lament,” Heidi Weaver invites us to:
• Rest, to take sabbath time to simply be present to our current situation;
• Reflect on that which has been lost;
• Repent for the sufferings and loss we have caused or overlooked; and
• Make Restitution and be Restored to God and to one another.

This year for our Lenten Meditations we have invited ten writers to share reflections on each of these four steps of lament. These writers are all leaders in The Episcopal Church and represent a diversity of perspectives, ministries and backgrounds. As a result, we are blessed to have a unique and rich tapestry of viewpoints on the universal experience of lament, loss and new life. Many of the authors share deeply personal and painful experiences related to a variety of issues including disease, violence, racial injustice and poverty.

Readers, come to these meditations with an open heart. What you read may challenge you and give rise to unexpected or uncomfortable feelings. We encourage you to engage the “Four Steps of Lament,” by resting, reflecting, repenting and ultimately being restored to God and to one another. Finally our wish for you is that God brings you rest this Lent so that you may reflect on your own loss and be transformed in the process. May God then restore your soul and bring you into the bright new life that is our Easter promise. And may you continue to know that you are loved now and always.
Amen.
Robert W. Radtke
President & CEO
Episcopal Relief & Development

REMEMBER

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.”
—Genesis 50:20 (NIV)

Lent is a great time to remember. It is a time not only to remember, as crosses are traced on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday, that we are dust and to dust we will return, but also to remember the “but God” instances in our lives.

One of my favorite Bible verses is Genesis 50:20, and the New International Version says “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” What have been some of your “but God” moments? Think about some of the moments when everything seemed to be going against you but God showed up and, as I like to say, showed off.

I remember applying for three jobs a couple of years ago and feeling defeated when I wasn’t chosen for any of them, but God had an even better position for me. I could write books filled with “but God” moments, large and small, important and insignificant, obvious and subtle. Those are the moments I look back on to help me live through the difficult todays. “But God so loved the world…” the popular verse reminds us.

Will you join me at this moment and breathe and remember every single time God has shown up in big and especially in small ways?
—Sandra T. Montes

Source: https://www.episcopalrelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Lent-2021-English-BlackWhite.pdf; © 2021 Episcopal Relief & Development. All rights reserved. Printed in partnership with Forward Movement.