Sunday School 9:00am Sunday Worship: 10:00am
2230 13th Street
Greeley, Colorado

WNL – March 18

*** This is a virtual event to be done in the comfort of your home***
Join us for a time of spreading Hope Through Unity by lighting up the night as we celebrate Wednesday Night Lights. We invite you to light a candle and be in an attitude of prayer with others. Take a picture of your candle and share it along with possibly a story with us at ministry@fccgreeley.com and we will share out an accumulation of the photos at a later time to help us be inspired during this time.

A Reflection by Judi Ring

Today, I was struck by the irony that this time of quarantine and social isolation comes during the season of Lent. Lent began as a sort of commemoration of Jesus’ 40 days in the desert which we just learned about in a recent sermon from Mark, as well as in the first History Channel Docudrama “Jesus: His Life” at Wednesday Night Live. During his 40 days in the desert, the scripture tells us that not only was he completely isolated, but Jesus fasted and was tempted by the devil. No need for us to fast (a spiritual practice on its own) unless you choose to, or to give up some temptation as people have traditionally done during lent. What I am asking you to do is to use this time to fully engage in practices that will connect you to God, the giver of life. These are spiritual practices, and as I defined in the WNL sessions last fall, spiritual practice defines what it is. It is spiritual…. It connects us to the divine. It is a practice…. We must engage in it repetitively over a prolonged and regular span of time. So, each Wednesday night over our period of isolation, I will share a new spiritual practice to engage in while we light our candles. I also encourage you to practice throughout the week. Try to set aside a time each day to practice spirituality and I encourage you to find and invent your own new ways of spiritual practice and perhaps share them with us on the website.


Our first spiritual practice comes from Richard Rohr’s book Just This, and is the practice of “Beholding.” “Someone who is truly beholding is, first of all, silenced with the utter gratuity of a thing, a tree, a bird, even an insect. You find yourself giving it voice,….an inherent dignity.” (Rohr) If you are inside you may need to visualize something in nature or choose a plant, flower, or even the flame of your candle to behold. Focus on this part of creation and allow yourself to be connected to creation in a new way. Soon your perspective will change. Allow the objects and worries of the world to wash away and become one with your Creator. Close your eyes if you need to. “To behold is to allow and taste the wonder” (Rohr) of our Creator, God. Spend 5 minutes, or however long you choose, Beholding.

John 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.


The lectionary scripture for this Sunday is John 9:1-41 and we will be giving a brief meditation via video. I invite you to read and study this scripture between now and Sunday.

 

A spiritual provided by Sandy Varley to play during your Wednesday Night Lights.