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Lenten Reflection for Tuesday, March 3 
Julia Gannon 

Mark 1:14-28 

¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news^* of God,^* 15and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;^* repent, and believe in the good news.’<sup>* 

16</sup> As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen.¹⁷And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’¹⁸And immediately they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. ²⁰Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

²¹ They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. ²²They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. ²³Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, ²⁴and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ ²⁵But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ ²⁶And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. ²⁷They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He^* commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’ ²⁸At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.  

These verses always put a smile on my face. A group of men abandoning the comforts and safety of the life they know, and leaving it all behind to follow Jesus “proclaiming the good news of God.” And oh boy, we could all use a bit of good news these days. It’s easy to fixate on all of the negative things in today’s world, but, with God’s help, I want to actively make the choice everyday to celebrate the good news. I want to always celebrate God’s gifts, and share it with those around me who’s eyes might be clouded by darkness. I had a friend once ask me where all of my peace and joy came from, and I simply said “my relationship God”. This gave way to a wonderful conversation about my spiritual journey and walk in Christianity. The act of being joyful and sharing my joy gave me the opportunity to share the good news of God. We can only be successful fishers of men if we carry God’s light, love, and joy. After all, fish love the glittery tackle with feathers and tinsel so I plan to make my spiritual net as bright as it can be.

The second passage is the prefect example of God’s power and mercy. God was able to expel an unclean spirit from a man who was living with a parasite of darkness. God offers us new mercies each and everyday, and that will always give me hope. When I fail or find myself with my own parasite of darkness, God will offer his mercies to help pull me from that place. He will never give up, or shy away from the challenge because we are all worthy of God’s efforts and love. 

Lenten Reflection for Monday, March 2 
Emily Hursh 

Genesis 37:1-11 
Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. ²This is the story of the family of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. ³Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves.^*4But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

⁵ Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. ⁶He said to them, ‘Listen to this dream that I dreamed. ⁷There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.’ ⁸His brothers said to him, ‘Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?’ So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.

⁹ He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, ‘Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.’ ¹⁰But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, ‘What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?’ ¹¹So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Family drama!! Who can’t relate? Reading this passage at this time, I really felt for and related to Joseph. He was just sharing his dreams with his family; he didn’t tell them he thought they’d bow down to him one day. They jumped to that conclusion all by themselves! They turned out to be right, of course, but when the full picture came into focus, his family was happy to bow down to Joseph, who saved them and their whole community from famine! 
 
I had some family drama this Christmas when I showed up as my authentic self, speaking my truth as a queer woman. I had been letting my family erase this part of my identity for years to keep the peace, but circumstances have changed, and that wasn’t possible anymore. It wasn’t easy for me to spend a week with that much tension between me and my loved ones. It was tempting to somehow downplay the facts and smooth things over, but I don’t think that would have been serving anyone, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it anymore. I didn’t save anyone from a famine, but my example did create space for my youngest sister to more proudly be who she is as well, and that’s enough for me.
 
Of course, I can relate to Joseph’s brothers, too. I’ve definitely heard an uncomfortable truth, jumped to several conclusions, and gotten myself all bent out of shape when I would have been far better off following Israel’s approach, and just sitting with this new information and the discomfort it brings. Often, things that feel world-ending when we first hear them turn out to be no big deal, or even wonderful news! 
 
As I search my heart for what stands between me and a closer relationship with God this Lent, I’m considering how being my most authentic self, even when that means going decidedly against religious ideas I grew up with, can give me the freedom to show up for God as well. People aren’t always going to understand how I can be a queer Christian, anymore than Joseph’s brothers understood his dreams, but God is the one I have to answer to.

Lenten Reflection for Saturday, February 29 
Carrie Thomas-Carlson 

John 17: 20-26

20 ‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,^* so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, ²³I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. ²⁴Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

25 ‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. ²⁶I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’  

The piece from the passage that first resonates with me most is the idea that God's glory shines through us because he made us and allows us to demonstrate and be seen in this glory. John reminds himself of this when he says: " ...Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world." --What better gift we can give back to God than for others to know him through us?

Secondly, I make direct parallels to a New Testament verse Isaiah 6:8 that I memorized as a child. The first time I heard it, I felt God was truly calling me: "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!' ” New International Version (NIV) Hearing Isaiah's ecstatic rejoinder to the Lord's invitation helps us imagine what spiritual awakening looks like. 

We see John now responding in a similar way to the way Isaiah did, with wholehearted conviction when he says, "²⁶I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’ " We can imagine that both a prophet and disciple would follow the ebbs and flows of belief in all their days, but from these moments on they would both be committed to serving the Lord in action. We might waver in our everyday feeling but it is in our decision to follow Jesus's way that we truly become one with others and demonstrate the same love that he has shown for us.