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Marta Oti Sears

Marta Oti Sears

Category Archives: Lent

Does Lent make you squirm?

14 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by Marta Oti Sears in Lent, Uncategorized

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Several weeks ago it dawned on me that Lent was just three days away. I experienced a sinking feeling—the kind of feeling that made my shoulders slump and my head drop a little.Prodigal son

As I reflected on this physical and emotional response, I realized that Lent felt like a burden—one more thing to add to my already-full life. I felt weary and I didn’t want another thing to have to manage.

Lent is often described as a season of repentance and reflection. Growing up, I was taught that repentance meant “to turn away,” and more specifically, “to turn away from sin.”

I’m a person that tends to feel guilt and shame easily. Because I already struggle with feeling bad or “not good enough,” the thought of entering into a season focused on “turning away from sin” felt oppressive. I know God isn’t oppressive, so it got me wondering if there was something missing or off about my understanding of repentance. It turns out that there was.

The Hebrew word for repentance is “t’shuvah,” which means “to turn” or “to return.” It can mean to turn away from sin, but it can also mean to turn toward God or to re-turn to God.

When we focus solely on turning away from sin, we can get caught up in the willpower game and we get stuck. A better approach is to ask God to help us identify the things that we tend to turn to for security instead of turning to God.

Through this kind of prayerful reflection God has helped me see that when I’m under stress I tend to put my nose to the grindstone and work harder. My tendency is to turn to over-work and my own abilities, rather than to God, for help. Much of my life I’ve also turned to sugar to comfort me in times of distress and sadness instead of turning to God for consolation.

With this fuller understanding of the meaning of repentance, Lent feels different. I’m experiencing Lent as a reminder and an invitation to return to my Beloved and to my identity as God’s beloved. This, of course, is not just a once-a-year invitation. It’s the ongoing, central invitation of our lives.

Are you aware of the things that you tend to turn to under stress? What practices or life rhythms might help you turn, or return, to God throughout the day/week?

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Wash Someone’s Feet Today [Maundy Thursday]

17 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by Marta Oti Sears in family traditions, holiday, Lent, parenting

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

contemplative family, contemplative mom, contemplative parenting, family rituals, family traditions, Foot washing, Lent, Maundy Thursday

Foot washing 1Today is Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday, the day that Christians around the world remember Jesus’s “last supper” with his disciples and the way he shocked his followers by washing their feet (a task typically done by servants because it was considered low, dirty work).

Several years ago, on Maundy Thursday, I discovered a brown paper bag on my doorstep. Inside I found four rolls, four grape juice boxes, and a washcloth. My friend Doreen left it for our family with a note explaining that for many years she and her family had enjoyed the ritual of washing each other’s feet and taking communion together on Holy Thursday.

After dinner that night, I pulled out one of our children’s Bibles and read the story of the last supper to our two kids. Our family then took turns washing each other’s feet in a plastic tub of warm water. The kids were 3 and 6 years old at the time and they were very sweet and cute as they carefully rubbed our feet with the wet washcloth, then patted each foot dry with a clean towel.

Our kids were particularly fond of the grape juice boxes and rolls, so much so that the following year they asked me to buy the exact same brand of grape juice boxes and to ask Doreen which grocery store she had bought the rolls from so that we could get the same ones.

foot washing 2Over the years, the kids have taken more ownership of this tradition.

When my son Jonah was 4 years old he asked if he could hold the bread and juice and say “the words” to each person. (“The body of Jesus, broken for you” and “The blood of Jesus, poured out for you.”) When it was time for the bread and juice, he had his dad and sister get in a line facing him. He picked up a roll, held it out to his dad, then leaned over to me and whispered, “What’s my line again?”

foot washing 3Another year the kids wanted to invite their neighborhood friends to join in, so we bought more rolls and juice and enjoyed sharing this tradition with a small flock of kids.

foot washing 4The first year our church had a Maundy Thursday service, our family planned to attend, so I didn’t buy any rolls or juice knowing that we’d take communion at church. But as soon as the service was over, the kids asked if we were going to “do it as a family” when we got home. They insisted on stopping at the store on our way home to get our own rolls and juice so we could continue what had become one of their favorite family traditions.

Symbols and rituals mean a lot to children. They learn best experientially when they engage their sense of touch, taste, sound, smell, and sight. (Adults do too.)

Perhaps you’d like to try this with your family or others. If you don’t have a tub, basin, or large bowl for the foot washing, you can use the bathtub. Be creative.

If you try it, I’d love to hear about it. Please share your stories in the comments. If you have other Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, or Easter rituals and traditions that you’d like to share, please do!

 

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Recent Posts

  • Does Lent make you squirm?
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  • Wash Someone’s Feet Today [Maundy Thursday]

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