— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
During a recent visit to Florence with my husband, I was fascinated by the image of Mary painted in the 15th century by Botticelli. Something about her face struck me to the core. In the painting there is a quiet sadness, reflective perhaps of the verse about her “cherishing all these things in her heart”, knowing that she had given birth to the son of God and that He had a destiny which was unchangeable and this foretold destiny would pierce her heart beyond what any mother should have to bear.
In the Lectio 365 Night Prayers, Pete Grieg has been describing this season as a time of “bright sadness”, which apparently is how the Eastern Orthodox Christians refer to Lent. There is a brightness as we know that Easter is coming, but a sadness at the same time, while we acknowledge that we are heading toward the cross and the suffering of Jesus.
“Friday’s good ’cause Sunday is coming
(Phil Wickham “Sunday is Coming”)
Don’t lose hope ’cause Sunday is coming”
Since Florence is teeming with religious art, being there was very conducive to Lenten contemplations. The city has so many stunning images of our Lord, depicted during various times of his life, including some of the Father holding and supporting the Son. We came across this moving and unusual depiction of the Trinity in the Santa Croce church.
Here we can visualize that not only was the Son overwhelmed with grief, but the Father’s face too is very somber yet gentle, as He gazes upon the Son and holds Him with infinite compassion.
“For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2
Even as He endured for the joy that was to come, so we too can pre-embrace and anticipate the joy that will be ours on Easter morning. And as we fix our eyes on Jesus, perhaps we can come to a new understanding this season of what it meant when He laid down His life for us. As Timothy Keller often said in his sermons, “He lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died”.
Or in the words of a song I heard recently:
“I wanna love unafraid
(For Heaven’s Sake by Erik Nieder)
To be Your nailed-scarred hands offering grace
I wanna live unashamed
To be Your life laid down for heaven’s sake
I’ll be a life laid down for heaven’s sake.
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for enduring the cross, thank you for dying for me. We remember your sacrifice this Easter and always.
In Jesus name, Amen
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 