small is holy for lent: the sabbath prayers of wendell berry

As my "Blessed Are the Weird" series on "Small is Holy" (https://www.facebook.com/Be-Still-and-Know-913217865701531) comes to an end, I've been wondering if it was time to bring my live streaming to a close. It started with the pandemic lockdown two years ago and has been a place for a small group of friends to check-in for spiritual encouragement and reflection.

I'm a believer that to "every thing there is a season," so I've been wondering whether or not this season has come and gone? I have learned a great deal. I have enjoyed being in virtual community with a number of dear friends. And, I choose to believe that for these past two years the "Small is Holy" gig met a small need. With so much of the Western world coming to grips with covid as an endemic rather than pandemic, however, I've had to ask myself: is there value in continuing every Sunday evening at 4 pm? I certainly DON"T want to overstay my welcome nor do I want to keep plugging away at what might become Jimmy's vanity project.

So, as I am want to do these days (after learning the hard way NOT to rush into quick decisions) I've been sitting with the questions for a few weeks. Yesterday, some clarity of sorts broke through the haze. First, I sensed it might be satisfying to use the SALT Project's Lenten series focused on Wendell Berry's Sabbath Poems as a shared practice. And second, the reason for doing so is NOT to be productive nor utilitarian. Instead, like this Charles Schultz PEANUTS meme suggests, it's to be present and tender-hearted even as the nation lurches towards some type of normalcy (as well as chaos!)

As I wrote in my little song of the same name:

Thinking big and acting strong led me into all that's wrong
Hitting bottom taught me well strategies to get through hell.
Touch the wound in front of you – that’s all you can really do.
Keep it close, don’t turn away, make room for what’s real today.
Small is me, small is you, small is holy and rings true.
Small is hard, small reveals the way our hearts can be healed.

So, dear friends, if you'd like a little company for your Lenten journey, it you are interested or curious about the Sabbath Poems of Wendell Berry, or if you simply want a little quiet reflection, silence, song, and prayer at the close of the day each Sunday: let's give it a go. Be in touch and I'll send you the SALT Project's study guide. I've purchased the rights to share it with a select group of friends. I hope you'll join me.