Experience Lent in a New Way
During the season of Lent, we will be holding space in our service for special prayers. During this time, you are invited to go to one of five prayer stations placed around the sanctuary. Below is a description of each of the stations, with suggestions for how you might approach this new way to pray. But these are only suggestions. You may discover new approaches of your own, that are meaningful to you. Of course you are also welcome to remain seated, and to pray where you are.
ABOUT OUR PRAYER STATIONS
Water: Dip your fingers in the water of the baptismal font. Remember your baptism–the moment you were bathed in love and welcomed into God’s family. Offer prayers for forgiveness, for yourselves or for others. Place a small, clear prayer stone in the water as a symbol of things you wish to let go on your Lenten journey, or of things you wish to wash away. Remember this is the fountain of grace.
It is customary for pilgrims walking el Camino de Santiago in Spain to carry a stone with them as they walk “the Way” (el Camino). It can be a stone of remembrance, a way to remember a loved one you’ve lost. Or it can be a symbol of a loved one you wish to carry with you on your journey, or of a value, belief or practice you wish to deepen during Lent.
Stones: Hold your stone and consider what it means to you, and what it represents. Offer a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to carry it with you. Take your stone with you when you leave. Find a way for it to be present with you for the rest of your Lenten journey. Bring it back with you on Easter Sunday. We will use these stones to make a cross together in the grass outside the Chapel, near the parlor.
Fire: Light a candle of celebration or concern, for yourself or for someone you love.
Psalms: The Psalms were originally meant to be sung. But they are also meant to be prayed. On this table, you will find large drawings — still unfinished — that are meant to bring the psalm to life. As you help to color in the drawing, pray through the psalm. Let it speak to you. Take home a smaller version to use devotionally at home, with your family.
Action: At this table, we invite you to pray for our undocumented neighbors who have been separated from their families during deportation actions. You will also find sample letters, which you can take with you to guide you, later, in writing prayers for and letters to detainees being held at the Stewart Detention Center near Lumpkin, Georgia, to boost their spirits as they wait for their cases to be adjudicated.