A Lenten Fast to Live By, Lent study 2024, week 3
Commentary on Week 3
by Marjorie George
I was at the mall with my two young children – an infant and a three-year-old. Having finished our shopping, we headed to the parking lot and our car where I found (oh, no!) the car had a flat tire.
I must have looked pitiful standing there with two kids and arms full of JCPenney bags frantically trying to figure out what to do next. Who to call, and how in a world before cell phones. The baby was getting hungry I knew, and the three-year-old sensed my fear and frustration.
Car after car drove by us. I guess they all had places to go and people to see because no one stopped to offer help.
Except for one man. He was driving a kind of beat-up old car and looked rather scruffy himself in well-worn clothes and an ungroomed beard. But there I was needing help, and there he was offering it. What I didn’t notice, until he was digging the Jack out of my trunk, was that his left arm was missing.
He changed the tire with his one arm, refused to take any money for his help, and was gone. I guess Christine Valters Paintner would say he was a sacred guide. He probably was not much valued for his productivity in our accomplishment-driven culture. I don’t know if he had stopped what he was doing to help me. Don’t know if he had some place else to be or if someone was waiting for him. All I know is he took the time to help a distraught young mother stranded in a parking lot. It’s been 50 years, and I still appreciate him.
“Sacred guides” is one of the phrases Paintner and writer Cole Arthur Riley introduce us to in chapter 3 (pg 136) – those who are sick, elderly, disabled, neurodivergent. The ones our culture sees as throw-aways because of their limitations. But not this guy.
Paintner says these are the ones who lead us to liberation and a clear vision of dignity. Last week we talked about our God of abundance, and here was God providing for me what I could not do for myself. And teaching me what dignity really looks like.
This week we are invited into slowness and holy pauses. Sometimes those pauses are thrust upon us against our will and our plans. Perhaps resting does not always mean sitting quietly in our comfort chair, but resting, patiently waiting, trusting that help will arrive in whatever form God sends it.
Our breathing prayer this week calls us to breathe in “I let go,” and breathe out “And rest.” A good prayer for being stranded with a flat tire in a parking lot.
Questions for reflection this week:
Paintner says that rest, slowness, pausing are all pathways to a liberation of body and soul, not a reward for good work later on (pg 136). What does that mean to you?
Who have been your “sacred guides”? What has each one taught you?
Thinking about the week ahead, how can you arrange for a five-minute “window” between tasks or appointments this week?
Practices
Select part of a day or a whole day to intentionally slow down. Choose a leisurely pace for routine activities, emphasizing quality over quantity. What do you discover?
Dedicate one meal to slow, mindful eating. Avoid doing other activities during your meal, and focus instead on savoring each bite and being present with the flavors and textures. What is this like for you? Would you consider doing it regularly?
Reflect on the words from the song Slow Down. Listen here.
Slow down where are you going?
What’s so important that can’t wait?
Tell me what are you seeking?
What is it that’s keeping you from bringing me your questions?
JUST SLOW DOWN, JUST SLOW DOWN
And meet with me.
Rest now, be in the present
Here in the blessing of today.
Listen just for a moment.
I am the only one with words to calm your worries.
Focus your mind on me, I am the way to perfect peace.
JUST SLOW DOWN, JUST SLOW DOWN AND MEET ME
The Wisdom Years 