What Will It Look Like?
Larry McGuire of Gilbert, AZ, USA
Lift up your eyes and fix them on the place beyond the horizon to which you are sent. Journey in trust, assured that the great and marvelous work is for this time and for all time. -Doctrine and Covenants 161:1a
Forty days, not counting Sundays, is a long time for an individual to dedicate to a task. In a culture expecting something to happen in an instant, forty days is a lot to ask. Plus, “What do I get at the end?” (the typical question a modern mind asks about almost everything). I believe this question is rooted in our culture of individualism and the need for all our actions to lead to enlightenment or reward.
Once in a while I have insights about what something might look like in completed form, but that’s the exception. When I visit a store like IKEA, I see wonderfully designed storage units or appliance stands and believe I can purchase what I want and put it together to use in my home. A box arrives with instructions, but it’s all just pieces to me. Some people can see the pieces and how they fit together to become a completed whole. Usually, I get stuck with bits and fragments and not a clue about how to put them together…even with instructions.
As I live the days of this Lenten journey, I want to find comfort in the pieces and not become entangled in what it will look like at the end of the forty-day experience. I want to fully embrace the moments of my day: the places where I stumbled, where I looked away, where I sat to rest. How did the pieces of each day introduce me to a new insight? Or, can I embrace the fact that the pieces will not lead to a completed picture but to a mosaic of a life journeyed in trust?
What will it all look like at the end of this forty-day experience? I don’t know but I’m willing to live into the journey even when I’m unsure of how all the pieces fit.
Prayer Phrase
I surrender into your love.
Spiritual Practice
Centering Prayer
Set a timer for 20 minutes. (If that feels like too much at first, choose a time that will be comfortable for you as a starting place, committing to expand that time in future prayer.) Allow the rhythm of your breath to draw you deeper and deeper into silence. As you breathe, claim one sacred word (Christ, peace, grace, trust, etc.) emerging in you as an anchor to return you to the intention of your prayer when your thoughts begin to wander. Gently release the thoughts and images that come, making space for presence to the One who is with you here and now. Release, return, “be vulnerable to divine grace” (Doctrine and Covenants 163:10b).
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.
