Sunday 17 March 2013

A Pause In Lent 2013 #5

Floss asked if the picture she uses to head up these Pauses ‘works’ for those of us involved in this annual blogfest. I confess I had never really questioned her choice of ‘logo’. It looked vaguely Celtic to me, and knowing her Scottish links I assumed it was something from ‘the North’ I was actually quite wrong!

A Pause in Lent Floss

It is actually part of a larger carving from the Lintel of the Abbey at St Genis des Fontaines in the Pyrenees. [Floss and family went there on holiday a few years back] I did some research…

The piece I read said that the carving represents "Christ in Majesty" - and I sort of imagine Jesus holding up his hand and saying "Whoa there, girl, stop a minute and think about the Important Stuff" which is how I have always interpreted a Pause In Lent. So yeah, Floss, it works for me.
As long as the other side of the wall has a carving of Jesus grinning, and saying "See, I said it would all work out OK in the end, if you just trusted me!"

This week has been incredibly busy for Bob and myself, with lots of friends in our fellowship going through complicated times. We have both been quite exhausted at the end of each day. But it has been really wonderful to watch the other friends who have rallied round, giving love and support, and I am grateful for their care and concern for brothers and sisters in need.

The lines from Jane’s meditation that have stuck with me are these

Fast from facts that depress; Feast on verities that lift.

Fast from lethargy; Feast on enthusiasm.

[some friends may spot a completely unintentional pun there]

There is a world of difference between exhaustion and lethargy. Exhaustion comes at the end of a day of purposeful busy-ness, when you collapse into bed, longing for sleep. Lethargy is at the beginning of the day, when you cannot face getting out of bed and getting on with life – that is the time to feast on enthusiasm!

resolution

6 comments:

  1. SO true! Lethargy is a killer! Something I need to remember and give Satan a kick up the backside!x

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  2. Oh Ang, you have un gros mot on your picture! (Sorry, I spend too much time with children...) Other than that, great post! It rather seems as though our weeks have had some similarlites. I've suffered from lethargy as well as exhaustion at times - I was staggered at how listening to a friend's problems wiped me out for the rest of the day. I can only imagine how the whole thing left her, though... So, do you have a friend called Verity?

    Now, on to the new week, and thank goodness God is coming with us...

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  3. Hoping the 'gros mot' does not cause too much offence [and I'm of the opinion that the Devil probably uses a lot of them when he sees us winning - and also in agreement with Tony Campolo who says we must be careful not to let concerns about the words stop our concerns about the issues]

    Not ONE friend - but SEVEN in the church here- we have a family with the surname Verity!

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  4. Haha the picture really made me laugh! :D

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  5. It's cold and gray here, and while I'm not feeling lethargic, I'm tending toward it. But now I have vowed to feast on enthusiasm! Thanks, Ang!

    xofrances

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  6. Perfectly with you about the gros mot thing, I ignore them myself but keep them out of my blog - mainly because I know Elizabethd will probably be reading! Has she become my substitute blog-mum? An interesting question...

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