On this Thursday in the Second week of Lent we pray in the Collect of the Day: Cleanse our hearts from sin, keep our hands pure, and turn our minds from what is passing away; so that at the last we may stand in your holy place and receive your blessing; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
To turn from what is passing away is arguably a life-long task — our ongoing word as we strive to live into the full stature of our lives in Christ. And Lent is the season when we focus on that work a particular way, with particular intention with particular prayer, study and action. Today we focus on these words from Bishop Steven Charleston — words about the power of truth to set us free.
And the truth shall set you free.
Bishop Steven Charleston via Facebook
I have always loved those simple words.
They are so true to my own experience
and I imagine to yours as well.
Truth in this sense is not an absolute but a process.
Not truth as universal, but truth as personal.
It is how and when we came to understand
what was really happening,
how and when we knew the reality of our situation,
how and when we finally uncovered the part of the story
we never knew.
All of us have been through this kind of revelatory process,
one that fell on us like a thunderclap
or one that occurred over many years.
The truth we are talking about is the truth of our relationships,
of our families, and of our communities.
The truth that sets us free
is the one that fits the lock we need to open.
When that key opens the doors of our awareness
we are liberated from an endless maze of guessing.
One in the Spirit EDLA 