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Lenten Reflection for Wednesday, March 4 
Ellie Berlyn 

¹ Corinthians 2:1-13

²When I came to you, brothers and sisters,^* I did not come proclaiming the mystery^* of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. ²For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. ³And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. ⁴My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom,^* but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

⁶ Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. ⁷But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. ⁸None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹But, as it is written,

‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
   nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him’— 

¹⁰these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. ¹¹For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. ¹²Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. ¹³And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.^*
 

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.