Lent

March 24, 2023

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:6-11
To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

I read an article yesterday about the physical signs of depression. I had never realized that depression had physical symptoms. I wondered which came first the depression or the physical symptoms.  As one who has had osteoarthritis since I was 24, random physical pain is just a part of my life. I have a close relationship with capsaicin. None of us knows when we are going to be infected with Strep A which will impact the rest of our lives. Paul talks about the thorn in his flesh and there is a lot of speculation about what it was. One thing about thorns in our flesh, they serve as a constant reminder that we are all human.

Our relationship with the Spirit is a choice.  We choose to be righteous and just; we choose to love God and our neighbor as we love ourselves. Indeed, we choose to love ourselves. I think many of the problems in our world today are that people do not love themselves and thus they cannot love their neighbors. The cultural wars we are experiencing now are a very strong expression of people not being comfortable in their own selves.  Many apparently have not understood that we are all created in the image of God and that we are all good. My guess is all of us eventually experience a thorn in our flesh that at times disrupts our lives, but it does not remove us from the love of God and it may provide us with more empathy for others if we allow the Spirit to guide.

Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. (Reinhold Niebuhr) Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.