Day 10: Divine Things and Human Things

Image: Divine Things and Human Things (click image to enlarge)

For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.
—Mark 8.33

From a lectionary reading for Lent 2: Mark 8.31-38

Reflection for Saturday, March 3 (Day 10 of Lent)

And how do we untangle the two? So immersed in a world created by God and infused with the divine, how do we distinguish what is of God from what is not?

In our pilgrimage through Lent, the path keeps inviting us to practice discernment, to enter into the sorting and sifting that lie at the heart of this word and this season. These Lenten days ask us to open our eyes and to see our landscape—the world around us, the world within us—with greater clarity. As I move through these days, I pray for vision that will help me perceive the edges of things and for courage to make wise choices among them; choices that draw me deeper into the divine, from which it is so easy to become distracted.

But I pray also for this: that I may recognize the presence of God that infuses what is human and earthly. That I may have eyes to perceive how the lines blur. That I may work for a day when it will be impossible to discern and distinguish between the human and the divine, a day when we will no longer be able to say, This is of God, and this is not.

This reflection is part of the series “Teach Me Your Paths: A Pilgrimage into Lent.” If you’re new to the series, welcome! You can visit the first post, Teach Me Your Paths: Entering Lent, to pick it up from the beginning.

[To use the image “Divine Things and Human Things,” please visit this page at janrichardsonimages.com. Your use of janrichardsonimages.com helps make the ministry of The Painted Prayerbook possible. Thank you!]

2 Responses to “Day 10: Divine Things and Human Things”

  1. Kellyann Says:

    Amen and amen!

  2. Fisherwife Says:

    Yes! I long for the day.

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