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This is the last day of Lent.  The day between Good Friday, when Jesus was killed by capital punishment, and Easter Sunday, when we are told that Jesus overcame death.

This is a day for reflection.  What is the meaning of Jesus’ ministry and his being killed?  What are we to learn from the story of the resurrection?  Each year we enter this time of pondering, wondering, repenting, even hoping.

The novel Orbital by Samantha Harvey tells the story of four astronauts and two cosmonauts who find themselves together in a spaceship orbiting Earth.  They represent their countries in this endeavor.  One is from Italy.  One is from Japan.  One is from Great Britain.  Two are from Russia.  And one is from the United States.  There are four men and two women.  These people did not know each other.  They overlap for a time on the spaceship where they carry out scientific research and experiments.  

It takes a lot of work and commitment to be chosen to be part of this mission, so maybe what we can say about crew is that they all wanted to go to space.  They are all devoted to the space program.  Other than that, they are from different countries with different systems of government.  They are different genders.  They live in different cultures.  They hold different religious beliefs and no religious beliefs.  They speak different languages.  They are very different.  But for these months, they are together in a small spaceship orbiting Earth.  Their lives depend on each other.  Their situation has many potential risks and hazards.  They need to know that they can trust each other above all else.  

Harvey conveys this when she writes:  “And us?  We are one.  For now at least, we are one.  Everything we have up here is only what we reuse and share.  We can’t be divided, this is the truth.  We won’t be because we can’t be.  We drink each other’s recycled urine.  We breathe each other’s recycled air.”  [p. 94]

As we reflect on the life and ministry of Jesus, I think this is what he was trying to get across to us:  We are one.  Each and every person interdependent.  All living together in one home:  Earth.  We are in this together.  That is the way Creation is designed.  Jesus shows us our oneness.  As God would have it.  And he was killed for it.  

Prayer:  May we be aware of how we let things not only separate us but turn us into competitors and enemies.  Jesus teaches us to love ourselves.  Love our neighbors.  Love our enemies.  Because in the eyes of God, we are but one family.  Beloved.  Amen.

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Devotion prepared by Rev. Kim P. Wells, pastor of Lakewood United Church of Christ in St. Petersburg, FL.

The devotions this Lenten season will be based on the novel Orbital by Samantha Harvey.  Orbital won the Booker Prize in 2024.  It is a beautifully written story about the experience of a group of people orbiting the Earth in a spaceship.  They see 16 sunrises and sunsets in a 24 hour period.  The book is a reflection on the experience of living together and appreciating planet Earth in a new way.

In Samantha’ Harvey’s novel, Orbital, we are told about the heart of the Italian astronaut Pietro:  “There in his chest is a heart that tilts and pitches.  He can keep its beats slow and smooth, quell its habits of fear or panic or impulse, stop it yearning too much for home, curb its unhelpful states of abandon.  Calm and steady, calm and steady.  Metronome pacing out the breath.  Yet still at times it tilts and pitches.  It wants what it wants and hopes what it hopes and needs what it needs and loves what it loves.  So strenuously unrobotic is the astronaut’s heart that is leaves the earth’s atmosphere and it presses out — gravity stops pressing in and the counterweight of the heart starts pressing out, as if suddenly aware it is part of an animal, alive and feeling.  An animal that does not just bear witness, but loves what it witnesses.”  [pp. 50-51]

This is Good Friday.  The day we remember Jesus being killed on the cross, a painful, excruciating death.  A humiliating death.  What was the state of Jesus’ heart that day?  Was it tilting and pitching?  Or slow and smooth, with no sign of fear or panic?  Was Jesus calm and steady?  Can we imagine, even in the midst of humiliation and pain, the heart of Jesus expanding with love for the Earth, for life, for all the people here, for God?  

Forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing!

Prayer:  On this of all days, may our hearts swell with love for Jesus and the world for which he died.  Amen.

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Devotion prepared by Rev. Kim P. Wells, pastor of Lakewood United Church of Christ in St. Petersburg, FL.

The devotions this Lenten season will be based on the novel Orbital by Samantha Harvey.  Orbital won the Booker Prize in 2024.  It is a beautifully written story about the experience of a group of people orbiting the Earth in a spaceship.  They see 16 sunrises and sunsets in a 24 hour period.  The book is a reflection on the experience of living together and appreciating planet Earth in a new way.

In Samantha’ Harvey’s novel, Orbital, there is a protocol for those on a spaceship when an astronaut has a medical problem or emergency.  If the astronaut must be evacuated from space, taken home to be treated, the astronaut does not go alone.  Two other astronauts go to accompany the one needing medical attention.  The colleagues are needed to assist with the trip back to Earth and the landing.  The two compatriots are needed to potentially save the life of the astronaut who is physically compromised.

In the course of Harvey’s novel, Anton, a Russian cosmonaut, has discovered a lump on his neck.  He is keeping it hidden beneath the collar of his shirt.  He does not want anyone to know about it:  “Absently Anton runs his fingers over a lump that’s appeared on his neck the last fortnight and that he tries to obscure by raising the collar of his polo shirt.  The last thing you need is to get sick in space.  They’ll worry and send you home and, because you can’t fly back on your own, two others will have to go with you, and to cut short the missions of those two others would be unforgivable.  He’ll say nothing to the flight surgeon or to his fellow crew and he’ll hope nobody notices.  It’s the size of a cherry in the low hollow of his neck, and perfectly painless.” [pp. 139-140]

It seems noble of Anton to be concerned about others.  To not want to cut short the mission of any of the other astronauts who are on the spaceship.  The six astronauts seem so in love with space and have worked for their whole careers for this opportunity.  Of course Anton would not want to take that away from any of them.  He is thinking about others, not just himself.  Not just his health.  You get the feeling Anton would rather die than take away one minute in space for any of his colleagues.  He seems so other-centered.  

Much as Anton loves space and would not want to deprive any one of his comrades of a moment of their mission, I found my self wondering, What if one of the other astronauts on the spaceship was sick and needed to return to Earth to receive healthcare?  I think Anton would be the first to volunteer to help them get back to Earth.  I think he would immediately agree to fly back with the sick colleague.  

And then he would say, “Zabudem, ladno?”  Let’s forget it, shall we?   

Prayer: Jesus teaches us to find life in giving our lives away.  As this Lenten season is drawing to a close, we remember how Jesus gave his life away for others.  May we seek to do the same.  Amen.

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Devotion prepared by Rev. Kim P. Wells, pastor of Lakewood United Church of Christ in St. Petersburg, FL.

The devotions this Lenten season will be based on the novel Orbital by Samantha Harvey.  Orbital won the Booker Prize in 2024.  It is a beautifully written story about the experience of a group of people orbiting the Earth in a spaceship.  They see 16 sunrises and sunsets in a 24 hour period.  The book is a reflection on the experience of living together and appreciating planet Earth in a new way.