Seek out a new (or not so new) acquaintance’s story [for Lent]. When we hear the narrative of someone else’s life, we learn fresh ways that God moves through our lives and connects all our stories to God’s own. And, when we become closer to a person by knowing more about them, the door of our heart opens a bit wider, and we catch a new glimpse of God’s image.
One of the tensions we must always hold as contemplative practitioners is to accept that we are called to and living out of a deeply intimate relationship with God… while at the same time not believing ourselves too familiar with the Divine. God will always be beckoning us to probe the endless mystery of God as the path of increased intimacy with God. Intimacy is never without risk, as it always means that we see and are seen more fully, deeply, and clearly. This risks shattering our comfortable perception of ourselves and of the one we seek to know better… and there is no intimacy more earth-shattering than a new perception of God’s very self. It takes time and practice to be ready to be so vulnerable and intimate with God. A great way to practice being ready for a fresh concept God is to open ourselves to a fresh concept of those around us – precisely what blogger Laura Stephens Reed points to in her suggestion above.
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