CHRISTMAS IN LENT

We are approaching the end of the first week in Lent 2023.

I have to admit I like Lent better than Christmas.  Maybe because there isn't  a "violent" expectation to shop, be happy, attend parties.

Which brings me to the three things on my mind today:

The first is "nonviolent communication" (Marshal Rosenberg).

Second is how deeply essential nonviolent communication is to hear God.  How it connects to the Isaiah quote in my (first) blog introduction, "Therefore, I will now persuade her, I will bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly to her" (2:14).  I can understand why seekers, believers, and writers went into the desert.

Third, how can I hear God speak tenderly to me in the desert through my own and other's evaluations, judgments, criticisms, even compliments?

In a future post I will share a "technology" I'm learning about that will not even allow me to hear these things again.

But for now I want to end with what inspired the title of my blog today.

It was a sermon on YouTube by Bishop Robert Barron: Wait for the Desert to Bloom.

Christmas in Lent!

Amen.


Source:Word on Fire

🦒



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