Lenten Blessings

Christ Blessing 

with Saint John the Evangelist, the Virgin Mary, Saint John the Baptist, and Saint Francis

 (known as the Peruzzi Altarpiece)

Giotto di Bondone

North Carolina Museum of Art, Personal Photo, 3/22/2025

This Lenten season our church has been studying the Beatitudes as found in Matthew 5 and reviewed in the book by James Howell.  Although the book, The Beatitudes for Today,  was written in 2006, the reflections seemed very relevant for this current Lenten season.  

In the Beatitudes, the most striking word is “Blessed” which is connected to the realities of our lives.  I think these verses are best described as  “benedictions” spoken at the beginning  of each verse to a reality of our broken lives.   “Blessed’s” primary location adds meaning as the “given” or context to the events of our faith journey.

So the “good words” of this Lenten season are the “Blessings” that are the first things - the most important things.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Thanks be to God for the promises of these Lenten Beatitude blessings,

Marvin

References

Howell, J. C. (2006). The beatitudes for today. Westminster John Knox Press.

Matthew 5:3-12 (NIV)

Belonging

Personal Photo outside Nairobi, Kenya - 2018 

Personal photo, Hout Bay, South Africa - 2012

“I should love the truth, speak it candidly, and openly acknowledge it. 

And I should do what I can to guard and advance my neighbor's good name.”

Lord’s Day #43 - Heidelberg Catechism

It has been a long education!  I have had glimpses into the healing of disconnections, but never had the expansive view of “belonging” until I finished the book, “On Belonging” by Kim Samuel.  It is a comprehensive text on the theory, practice and history of building systems of connection in a world of loneliness.  I found a resonance with my experiences.

A central theme of the book, “On Belonging’ is the word, “dignity”.  The Swahili word would be “heshima”.  It is a “lifting up” and deep honoring of “others”.  I saw that lived out in my experiences in Kenya and my visit to South Africa.  In this country, this kind of belonging is central to the missions of Father Greg Boyle in Los Angeles. 

What “On Belonging” also describes is there are “dark sides” of this powerful idea.  Here is a quote:

“When we seek belonging in ways that do not acknowledge and honor our innate interconnectedness, we only stray further from wholeness, into the shadowlands.”  Kim Samuel

The Covid pandemic, like previous pandemics, has only exacerbated this reality.   This aspect of “long Covid” remains a challenge for the world.  There is work to do to bring The healing of Belonging to a suffering world.

Marvin

References

Heshima: Dignity for Children with Disabilities

https://heshima.org/

RCA House System

https://rcahousesystem.com/isibindi/

Lord’s Day 43 Heidelberg Catechism

Heidelberg, University. Heidelberg Catechism (Function). Kindle Edition.

Samuel, K. (2022). On belonging: Finding connection in an age of isolation. Abrams.  Quote p. 42 - Kindle

Sumuel Centre for Social Connectedness

https://www.socialconnectedness.org/about-us/

Hage, M. L. (2022). Healing Ecology

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2022/12/healing-ecology.html

Boyle, G. (2024). Cherished Belonging. Simon and Schuster.

Remembering from a Distance

"9/11 Memorial up close"

 “Statue of Liberty from a Distance”

“Maasai Flag”

Original Painting by James Cloutier

“9/11 Condolences from the Maasai”

Personal Photos - 3/2024 

There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, 

 because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother. 

Genesis 35:7 (NIV)

There are realities and “time as distance” is one of them.   The responses to this “time limit” are many but a common one is some kind of marker or memorial.  These memorials are not just related to individuals but also communities.  They leave messages or ideas that can last well beyond individual limits or visions.

I was reminded and reflected on our visit to New York City this last year and particularly the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.  The 9/11 Memorial best captures who and what was lost.  The Statue of Liberty, not far away,  reminded me of what we valued.  Both carry powerful reminders of who we are and how we are seen.  One image that connected these memorials for me was the “Condolences from the Maasai”.  It connected me  over time, geography and cultures to the motto of "Liberté, égalité, fraternité” as a gift to the world.

Both national sites mark important moments in our stories.   Both carry important ideas of who we are.  Memorial art helps us remember and tell our stories.  It speaks across oceans.  It speaks when we are speechless.  It sometimes is the only thing that connects us!

Thanks be to God who continues to speak to us through art.

Marvin

Reference

“A Maasai Village Responds to 9/11 with Compassion”

https://www.911memorial.org/connect/blog/maasai-village-responds-911-compassion

Deedy, C. A. (2018). 14 Cows for America. Holiday House.

Naming the Silences

The Bronze Serpent” CA. 1600 Anonymous 

Grohmann Museum

Museum of Work

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Personal Photo

So Moses made a bronze snake

 and put it up on a pole. 

Then when anyone was bitten by a snake 

and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

Numbers 21:9 (NIV)

“Naming the Silences: God, Medicine and the Problem of Suffering” by Stanley Hauerwas described a universal dilemma that leaves us all reaching for words when confronted with suffering and death.   If you practiced medicine, you know the reverence we experience is the other side of awe that inspires and breathes life into our lives.  I continue to look for new reports of this healing.

The psychiatrist, Robert Klitzman, in his new book, “Doctor, Will You Pray for Me?: Medicine, Chaplains, and Healing the Whole Person” explores the changing intersections of faith and medical care.  It is a personal report, a survey of spiritual care and descriptions of what is missing in the delivery of health care.

“I still regret my silence, which has continued to haunt, embarrass, and disturb me. 

Yet it made me wonder about the roles of religion and spirituality in patients’ and families’ lives.”     

  Robert Klitzman

He specifically reports on the “silences” in hospitals with the Covid 19 pandemic and his personal loss with the 9/11 attack.  The absence of meaning and new uncertainties surrounding the care of these patients and families left physicians, nurses, administrators and chaplains speechless.  What also happened as described in this book is a deeper search for purpose and meaning in the work we have all been called to do.  

This book resonated with my experiences in clinical practice and describes the healing responses to the many faces of suffering.  Thanks for these new stories of healing.  

Marvin

References

Hauerwas, S. (1990). Naming the Silences: God, Medicine and the Problem of Suffering. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing.

Hage, M. L. (2024). Reverence.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2024/01/reverence.html

Klitzman, R. L. (2024). Doctor, Will You Pray for Me?: Medicine, Chaplains, and Healing the Whole Person. Oxford University Press.

Hage, M. L. (2018). Healing Clergy.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2018/09/healing-clergy.html

Hage, M. L. (2024). Healing the Spaces between Us.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2024/07/healing-spaces-between-us.html