some comfort and joy

Lenten Comfort: So this is Love

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” – John 3:16

Flowers, poems, breakfast in bed, a weekend away or grand gestures is how our culture defines love. Things that elicit particular feelings or sensations are categorized as love, and in the West (conveniently) there is always something you can buy to help you get there.

Discipline, fasting and ashes certainly can’t compete.

The radical nature of Jesus’s teachings may be muted for us as we navigate the barriers of culture, history and familiarity. The stories about and teachings from Jesus show us that divine love looks more like sacrifice, care for others, and treasure in heaven than the American ideals of love. The coming events of Holy Week and Easter remind us that the way of love, the way of Jesus is non-violent.

One of the opportunities within Lent is to re-order our passions. In this week, consider ways that your love reflects the qualities of God’s love.

O God, our ideas of love are so small and conditional. May your Spirit continue to stir in us, expanding our knowing of you and your ways. Amen.

Some Comfort and Joy was developed as a devotional resource that follows the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.

We hope this brings you some comfort and joy! Do you know someone who would be inspired by today’s post? Please share Some Comfort and Joy with them. Be sure to subscribe and never miss a post.

Lenten Joy: Posture of Prayer

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 8:38-39

Unconditional love is a challenging concept to truly understand. In our humanity we are always bumping up against boundaries. It is difficult to extend love without limits (and perhaps most often we shouldn’t!). Yet, our human experience is the only framework we have in which to comprehend God. No wonder it is so challenging to perceive that there is nothing that would separate us from God’s love.

In your moments of prayer over the next few days, try taking on the posture of clasped hands, fingers intertwined. Notice the sensation of your knuckles touching, palms joined, the pads of your fingers on skin along the back of your hands. Use this gesture and the associated feelings to remind yourself of the nearness, tenderness and abiding presence of the divine.

Some Comfort and Joy was developed as a devotional resource that follows the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.

We hope this brings you some comfort and joy! Do you know someone who would be inspired by today’s post? Please share Some Comfort and Joy with them. Be sure to subscribe and never miss a post.

Comfort: God’s Love Revisited

Romans 8:31-39

No, in all these things
In the washing dishes, folding laundry, rushing out the door, shopping,
taxi-ing the kids, the grind of work

we are more than victorious
in the remembered hug, pink sunrise, holding hands, new ideas, list accomplished, anger dissolved, patience-chosen moments

through him who loved us.
through it all – Jesus loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death,
Not dust, ashes, sadness, valley of the shadow

nor life,
or the ebb and flow of our earthly existence,

nor angels,
or spiritual realms, unseen powers, or strangers

nor rulers,
or tyrants or democracy or kings

nor things present,
or the immediacy of a baby’s touch, or a too-long painful illness,

nor things to come,
or the foggy windshields of future life

nor powers,
or the no’s and yeses of each day, so often just beyond our control

nor height,
or joyful sun by day or stars at night

nor depth,
or deep sobs and the flow of the tide

nor anything else in all creation
or the mountains pushing up through the earth and the trees stretching for the endless sky, or the swirls of the universe and the microcosms of cells and matter

will be able to separate us
will be able to remove or force us away

from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
from God’s everlasting Love!

Some Comfort and Joy was developed as a devotional resource that follows the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.

We hope this brings you some comfort and joy! Do you know someone who would be inspired by today’s post? Please share Some Comfort and Joy with them. Be sure to subscribe and never miss a post.

Joy: Accepting Our Mortality

“But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die’” -Genesis 3:4

Accepting that we are finite human beings in need of God’s grace each day is spiritual discipline that goes against cultural norms. Simplifying our schedules, our possessions, or creating new boundaries in our daily routines can be one way of practicing this inward understanding.

Consider doing one of the following this coming week:

Remove a shopping trip from your schedule by using what you have instead of buying something new
Take some unneeded clothing to the thrift store
Spend time helping someone in your family with a project they want to do without telling them how they should do it
Go to bed earlier than planned in order to get a complete night’s sleep

Lenten Comfort: Living with Limits

“But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die’” -Genesis 3:4

It is understandable that Advent and Christmas are the preferred church holidays. Ash Wednesday comes in the long weeks of winter with its invitation to remember our mortality. While our culture encourages us to live in denial of death, for centuries, Christians have made this remembrance a constant part of their spiritual practice, remembering that each moment is a gift to be appreciated.

“Denial of death was humanity’s first seduction. ‘You will surely not die,’ the serpent flattered Eve…” writes Jen Pollock Michel in her book In Good Time. And we continue to wrestle with the allure of possibility. It is uncomfortable to face the reality of our limits, whether that is ability, hours in a day, or the finitude of human life.

Our desire to be like God is not sinful. The call to discipleship is to continue to form ourselves more and more into Christ’s likeness. It is our rebellion against the limits that causes harm to ourselves and others.

As you encounter limits throughout this week, take time to consider:

What gift is implicit in the limitation you are facing?
Where might there be goodness, freedom or rest because of a boundary?
In what ways is this restriction a blessing?

Refine my longings, O God. Renew my perspective. May I trust in the hidden gifts of limits. Amen.

Some Comfort and Joy was developed as a devotional resource that follows the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.

We hope this brings you some comfort and joy! Do you know someone who would be inspired by today’s post? Please share Some Comfort and Joy with them. Be sure to subscribe and never miss a post.

Lenten Joy: Clothed with Love

“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” -Colossians 3:14

In the Western Hemisphere, the liturgical season of Lent leading to Easter is celebrated as the last vestiges of winter melt away and signs of spring emerge.

The word Lent comes from an Old English word that meant spring. While this time in the life of the church may be known for its austerity, the reminder in the change of seasons and the words from scripture is one of hope: the promise of new life.

Today as you change clothing, as you take off and put on, reflect on the hope and promise of the words from Colossians. How did you wear compassion, kindness and humility today? What anger, wrath or slander do you need to take off from the interactions of today? What would it mean to clothe yourself in love this week?

God, may my life be cloaked in signs of the good life you offer–compassion, kindness, patience and love– for myself and others. Amen.

Some Comfort and Joy was developed as a devotional resource that follows the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.

We hope this brings you some comfort and joy! Do you know someone who would be inspired by today’s post? Please share Some Comfort and Joy with them. Be sure to subscribe and never miss a post.

Lent Comfort: It’s Not Fair

But now you must get rid of all such things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. – Colossians 3:8-10

“It’s just not fair!” I complained to my husband. In the aftermath of having COVID for the week of Christmas and being unable to participate in my family’s Christmas merriment, nothing felt right. My week of holiday fun had been replaced with laying in bed fighting chills, a stuffy nose, and the isolation that COVID often brings. When the symptoms lifted my gratefulness was short-lived as I realized all the things I had missed out on.

In the letter to believers in Colossians, Paul reminds us that we should strip off the old way of doing life. Instead of anger and malice, we are called to clothe ourselves in love. Leaving behind complaining and fairness in the pursuit of servitude towards others, will be a task I struggle to accept until I leave this world! But what peace will we receive in return for releasing our anger?

When I think about Jesus, his example consistently turned our assumptions about justice on their head. I remember the parable of the workers’ in the vineyard where those who arrived last got the same pay as those who worked all day. Or the prodigal son who received a full blessing just like the faithful son who stayed and worked each day on his father’s estate.

This is one of the reminders of Lent. In light of our finite existence, what can we leave behind? What would it look like to forgive someone everything they did against us? In what way is God calling you to put on the new garments of love?

Healing One, I confess my anger and short sightedness. Forgive me. Clothe me in Your loving kindness. AMEN

Some Comfort and Joy was developed as a devotional resource that follows the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.

We hope this brings you some comfort and joy! Do you know someone who would be inspired by today’s post? Please share Some Comfort and Joy with them. Be sure to subscribe and never miss a post.

Rend & Return: An invitation to Lent

Our lives are finite; ashes to ashes

All of us will die; dust to dust

Today, Christians around the world receive the mark of ashes as a sign of repentance and a reminder of our humanity. This is the ritual that starts the season of Lent, the 40-day journey to Holy Week and Easter.

The liturgical calendar, the rituals, celebrations and seasons of the life of the church, remind us that the way people of faith keep time is not the same as the world. For Christians, the focus of our lives isn’t to be on productivity, maximization, hustle and hurry. But believers commit to the slow work of transformation, going deeper, making space, slowing down.

The ancient words from the prophet Joel invite us to this practice:

“Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord your God for God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from punishment.” (Joel 2:12-13)

And so today we begin an intentional time of confession, listening and reflection.

In what area of your life do you need to return to God?
What are you mourning?
Where do you need to receive God’s grace and mercy?

Some Comfort and Joy was developed as a devotional resource that follows the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.

We hope this brings you some comfort and joy! Do you know someone who would be inspired by today’s post? Please share Some Comfort and Joy with them. Be sure to subscribe and never miss a post.

Lent series and our book!

Greetings from my home to yours!

This morning is a drippy one in Virginia, as Christmas disappears into in the rear view mirror. However, my Christmas candles linger in the windows to fight back the chilly weather and dark of winter.

As the days lengthen and warm up there a signs of spring. My hens, who are getting a little older and have taken a break from laying this winter, graced us with two eggs yesterday morning. This welcome surprise in the laying boxes reminded me that spring is coming.

The transition between winter and spring is also the time in the church calendar when we observe Lent. Sherah-Leigh and I have a series of reflections and practices ready for the weeks leading up to Easter. You can expect one reflection (Mondays) and one practice (Thursdays) weekly through Easter. One exception is that we will begin with a reflection and invitation into Lent on Ash Wednesday, this week, on February 14th.

As always, we appreciate you sharing Some Comfort and Joy with others! Please feel free to forward our posts to your friends and family.

We are also so excited to announce that we have written a book that will be released by Herald Press this September! Comfort and Joy: Readings and Practices for Advent is a devotional filled with poems, essays, reflections, recipes (thanks to many of you for your help with recipe testing!), practices and journal prompts. We are looking forward to telling you more about this book as we get closer to the release date.

As first time authors, our marketing team (?!) informs us that it is beneficial to have followers on our Amazon author accounts. So, if you are looking for a way to support us (that is totally free) you can do so here and here.

Thanks again to each of you that is part of our Some Comfort and Joy community! We look forward to walking through Lent and reflecting on life together.

-Gwen and Sherah-Leigh

While Some Comfort and Joy began as a devotional series that followed the liturgical year, with reflections and practices from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective, we have enjoyed expanding our offerings. Your likes, shares and comments shape and inspire our work! Thank you for your support.

Summer Fun: Blessing

May the Spirit,
who ordered the chaos, 
spoke everything into being 
and animated creation 
	Enliven you

May the Holy One
who provides manna
performs wonders
and makes a way (when it seems there is none)
	Bless you

May Emmanuel
who took on flesh,
laughed, cried, prayed
and shared a table with friends
        Companion you
		today and always.
                             Amen.