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Music Video: Empty Myself
Last week, my friend and musical collaborator John Caravelli and I recorded a new version of one of my older songs, “Empty Myself.” As we enter more fully into the Lenten season, it’s a song about the need to empty ourselves in order to make room for the movement of God.
Give yourself permission to slow down today. Maybe start with this short video. Grace + peace to you all during this time of fear and uncertainty.
Video harvested from the free stock video site Pixabay.
Words and music by Steve Givens, copyright 2020, Potter’s Mark Music. Lead vocals by Steve Givens and guitar and background vocals by John Caravelli.
Treasure in Jars of Clay: New Family Lenten Devotional
My wife, Sue, and I are pleased to announce the “birth” of a new co-creation. ‘Treasure in Jars of Clay’ is an ecumenical, 40-day family walk with Jesus through the holy season of Lent. At the center of this journey is a large jar (or maybe a bowl) around which your family can gather each day over the six weeks of lent for prayerful reflection and the chance to share with each other. Included in each time of prayer is one or two minutes of silence guided by this question: What is Jesus saying to you today?
The jar is a container into which you will place visible signs of your prayers, concerns, requests, and offerings. Anything relatively small can go into the jar, including written prayers to God, requests for forgiveness, coins (as an offering to be given away at the end of Lent), even a leaf or a small rock you might find while on a walk.
At the end of Lent, the jar can be placed somewhere in your home as a permanent reminder of your family’s commitment to a life of prayer and faith. Or, as another option, the contents of the jar can be burned as a ritual sign of your prayers rising like incense to God. Exactly what you do with your jar and its contents is up to you!
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A Shadow of My Present Self
An image and memory from a recent walk, a poem of reflection and shadow for a mid-winter day…
A Shadow of My Present Self
Walking through the woods near the lake
at the end of a warm winter’s day
the sun so near the horizon
that it sends its golden carpet unfurling
recklessly across the earth,
I catch myself walking beside me.
A shadow thrown
in black-on-orange-on-oak-brown,
A temporary photograph
reminding me who I am at that moment.
Wandering, quiet, willing to be surprised.
Trying hard to see and be aware.
A child, after all these 60 years,
of the source of light
shining in and through and around me.
Waiting for Christmas with Bright Eyes
When author Toni Morrison was once asked how she became a great writer, she responded, “I am a great writer because when I was a little girl and walked into a room where my father was sitting, his eyes would light up. That is why I am a great writer.We become healthy and “great” in our lives because people important to us love us so much that we can see it in their eyes. The sparkle in their eyes and the smile on their lips tell us we are loved, we are accepted, we are valued, no matter what the rest of the world says. That’s a great lesson in parenting and, as we of the Christian faith approach the celebration of Christmas, having “bright eyes” is also a wonderful parable of faith.