Tempt: Lent Photo a Day

We all have our temptations, our guilty pleasures or our guilty vices. The very word "tempt" connotes guilt--the Garden of Eden, the snake, the sin...temptation leads to expulsion and loss.

While I have plenty of personal temptations, I have at least lived a good chunk of my life. My love of unhealthy, sugar-loaded treats like donuts or Shamrock Shakes (curse you, McDonalds!) is negatively impacting my health, and I must resist such temptations.

But kids--our world seems filled with new and far more dangerous temptations than my generation faced. And just like the apple in the Garden of Eden, these temptations offer momentary pleasure and relief from the fears and cares of life. But they also offer loss and devastation: addiction, shame, brain damage. The path of life is littered with hazards.

Child: Lent Photo a Day

I found a woolly bear caterpillar on my walk today, and immediately I felt like I was six years old again. I had to stroke the little bristly hairs that covered it. I longed to pick it up and feel its little suction-cup-like feet move along my finger. My brain pulled up those happy memories from my childhood of woolly bears of varying colors--reddish, orange, blonde, black and orange, black--all marching along leaves and childish fingers and arms.

I'm so grateful for experiencing that moment of childhood, that sense of innocence and wonder and joy in God's creation. It was a reminder that no matter our age or cynicism or sophistication, we are still children of God. Creations of God's, just like this fragile caterpillar.

Gift: Lent Photo A Day

During Lent, we are reminded of God's gift to humanity of his Son. To me, this notion of giving is echoed in nature. Every walk I take, every hour I spend in my garden shows me lovely new treasures--treasures that are unasked for and even more miraculous as a result. Thank you, God, for these gifts and for the joy they bring to me.

Called: Lent Photo A Day

MARCH 2: ROMANS 1:7 CALLED

 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

To be called is to answer a compulsion, to respond almost without will or decision. I chose this photo of morning glory tendrils reaching up toward the sun, compelled out of need and hunger to seek the light. Compulsion sounds grim and hard--the connotations are of something not wanted but forced upon one. But as this plant demonstrates, a calling can be answered with joy. A calling can provide the strength and energy needed for life. Let me reach up toward the light of faith. Let me be called by God.

Servant: Lent Photo a Day

I don't like this word. Servant seems a demeaning word to me. This made it hard to come up with an image for today's Lenten photo--not an auspicious start.

Servants are inextricably tied to masters in my mind. And the notion of "master" seems elitist, the act of a narcissist. The only applicable creatures in my household are my cats, who seem to believe I exist only to make their lives comfortable.

Therefore, my "Servant" photo is of me acting as my cat's assisted living specialist, otherwise known as "servant".