“…but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power[a] is made perfect in weakness.’ So I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong” [2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NRSV]
“Create spaces of belonging” is the statement I adopted as a guiding statement for 2023. It has also become a way to offer grace to myself this year. How? When I feel rejected, discriminated against, or disrespected, I try to not let that affect me as it has affected me in the past. An exercise I have adopted is to remind myself that I belong to God, am God’s beloved child, and that God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit are more powerful than hostile forces in the world.
With the assurance of God’s grace on me and the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, I feel confident to create spaces for belonging to overcome hostile forces in the world. That is what a grace-filled lent looks like for me. A Lent where I pay attention to those who have been rejected, discriminated against, or disrespected, and I do my best to create a space of belonging for them.
A grace-filled Lent can also be an opportunity to dig deep within ourselves and identify how we have experienced the effects of hostile forces on us. At the end of the day, Jesus understands what it means to confront hostility, to not be welcomed, and not only be disrespected but dehumanized. Jesus wants us to trust him with our pain and trauma, and he wants to redeem our lives.
As redeemed people, then we can be vessels of redemption to others. We can create spaces of belonging, experience God’s transforming grace and extend this grace to others. Our world needs a grace-filled Lent so that they can live out a grace-filled life.
Prayer:
Graceful and transforming God, may this Lent be grace-filled so that our pain and trauma caused by the hostile forces in this world be redeemed by the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
