How do I let Ash Wednesday sneak up on me every year? Every Lent I promise I won’t get myself in this position again … and here it is already! How do I work through all the stress of choosing what program, what daily meditations, what big influencer to follow and walk with through Lent…how do I organize for my kids, my family, for myself? I watch everyone else organizing themselves, and posting pictures of their perfect solutions and Lenten programs...
“Let Go.” That’s what I hear Jesus saying to me. In that quiet voice which is so often drowned out by the noise of life, a million different needs, digital life, home life, now motherhood.
Many of you know of my love for St. Jane Frances de Chantal. She is the inspiration for so much of my life and what I do here at Be A Heart. Did you realize my “Let go” line was inspired by her?
St. Jane Frances was born in France in 1572 and married Christopher de Chantal when she was 21. Her husband was killed 7 years later and Jane Frances fell into despair. She had many worries and anxieties. She developed a prayer practice where she imagined herself floating on her back in the ocean. One by one, she would let her worries float off like a buoy - imagining that they floated into God’s hands. Each day, the buoy would return so the next day she would go through the same meditation until one day that anxiety (buoy) didn’t come back.
So I’d love to ask you “What’s your buoy?” What is it which causes you to worry, to be anxious, to take your eyes off Christ? Sometimes we only think of fasting as abstaining from food, from entertainment and pleasures. Some of the most difficult fasting, however, is from those areas or insecurities which cause this fear, or hold us in the darkness when we are actually called to the peace of the desert with Christ. This Lent, I am going to let my worries float off like a buoy. Every day, one buoy. What is your buoy today? Who can help you with your buoy?
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Even the thought of choosing one buoy seems to me, a buoy today. I suppose then, that is the answer as well. Perhaps my buoy is the fear of getting it right. My need to feel like God is pleased with me because I “did it right” I think I have convinced myself that somehow, even my children’s faith life is my “job” too. If I don’t do it right, they will not follow Christ. Thank you for asking for comments because I believe, even in the commenting, I am gaining some clarity. Off to do some yoga and to focus on truly letting go. Be A Heart is such a blessing to me. Peace.