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Lent Devotion 20


The two congregations worship at Lakewood on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. 
All are welcome!

Lent Devotion 20

It’s the middle of Lent.  Maybe you have been setting aside time for prayer and contemplation.  Maybe you have been trying to be open and malleable. 

Maybe you have been trying to be patient.  Maybe you have been trying to cultivate a creative relationship with waiting.  Maybe you have been focussing on more forgiveness in your life.  Maybe you have been trying to move closer to your heart center.   Maybe you have been trying to tap into the flow of love.
Maybe you have been trying to disentangle yourself from negative messages.  Maybe you have been trying to deprogram attitudes and assumptions that are harmful to you and others.  Maybe you have been trying to disempower memories that cause pain. 

And by now, maybe you are wondering if anything is ‘happening’?  Is it working?  Are you getting more ‘holy’?   I mean, we like measurable results.
In his book, Meditations on the Sand, Alesandro Pronzato addresses the situation where it doesn’t seem like much is going on in our prayer life despite our best intentions.  He writes:

“In the desert I came to know this Arab saying:  ‘There is always water at the bottom of a deep well.  Unlucky is the man [person] whose rope is not long enough.’”

We are told of Jesus spending 40 days in the wilderness maybe testing the length of his rope.  And finding what he needed.  Getting to the water.
Whatever the length of our rope, we affirm a God that is seeking to make sure that we have access to water, even to living water, to Jesus.  We are in relationship with a God, however we may imagine God, that seeks our highest good.  Maybe we need a longer rope.  We’re only half way through Lent.  It will be provided.  Water awaits.

Note:  The Lenten meditations for 2024 are written by Kim Wells and inspired by themes in the book Meditations on the Sand by Alesandro Pronzato written in 1981.

Drivers needed to deliver Meals on Wheels

You Can Reduce Senior Hunger – on Your Lunch Break Once a Week!

Neighborly’s Meals on Wheels program feeds hungry seniors with home delivered meals and reduces isolation and loneliness, thanks to compassionate volunteers. At present, our greatest need is in the St. Petersburg region of the county but back up coverage is welcomed at all 11 sites!

Your impact is immediate! All it takes is:

  • One weekday – easy!
  • Close to home – convenient!
  • Deliver meals to 5-10 seniors (generally between 10:30am to 12:30pm – we’ll work with you on lunchtime hours) – safely and quickly!

Our next orientation is March 7 at 10am. Additional dates available.

Volunteers are friendly, 18+, hold a valid driver’s license, automobile insurance, have a reliable, clean vehicle, and the ability to use tablet or smartphone. To apply, click here. 

Priest, activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Fr. John Dear to speak in St. Pete about his new book on Jesus and nonviolence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information: Rev. Kim Wells at (727) 776-7890 or wells.kim.p@gmail.com

PRIEST, PEACE ACTIVIST AND NOBEL PEACE PRIZE NOMINEE FATHER JOHN DEAR TO SPEAK ABOUT HIS NEW BOOK ON JESUS AND NONVIOLENCE

Priest, peacemaker, author and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Father John Dear will appear at 4:00 PM on Sunday, March 17th at Lakewood United Church of Christ, 2601 54th Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712 to talk about and sign copies of his new book, The Gospel of Peace: A Commentary on Matthew, Mark, and Luke from the Perspective of Nonviolence. It is the first commentary on the Synoptic Gospels from the perspective of active nonviolence in the tradition of Mohandas Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Refreshments and music will begin at 3:30.  The talk is free and open to the public.

In his book, Father Dear shows how Jesus’ teachings and practice of active nonviolence made him a disarming, healing presence to those in need and a revolutionary disrupter and threat to the unjust status quo, and how this nonviolence led to his execution and resurrection.

Father Dear bases his book on scholarship and on over forty years of nonviolent activism.  In 2008, when Archbishop Desmond Tutu nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize,  he called Father Dear “the embodiment of a peacemaker. He is a man who has the courage of his convictions and who speaks out and acts against war, the manufacture of weapons, and any situation where a human being might be at risk through violence.”

Father Dear has served as the coordinator of chaplains for the Red Cross after 9/11 in New York while simultaneously organizing demonstrations against the U.S. war against Afghanistan, and as pastor to rural parishes in the high desert of New Mexico. He has traveled in warzones and has spoken to audiences about the Gospel message of nonviolence around the world. He arranged for Mother Teresa to speak to U. S. governors to stop the death penalty and helped prevent eight executions.  He has been arrested over 85 times for nonviolent actions.

In 1998, he became executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the largest interfaith peace organization in the United States, and led Nobel laureates to Iraq and an interfaith delegation to Israel/Palestine. He drafted Pope Francis’ January 1, 2017 World Day of Peace message, the first statement on nonviolence in the history of the Catholic Church. He is the executive director of www.beatitudescenter.org where he hosts and offers zooms on Jesus and Gospel peacemaking.

Father Dear has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today. For eight years he wrote a weekly column for the National Catholic Reporter and Huffington Post.  He is the author of hundreds of articles on peace and nonviolence, and forty books, including The Beatitudes of Peace, of which President Jimmy Carter said, ”I urge everyone to study John Dear’s beautiful reflections and join his campaign of peace and nonviolence.”

To contact Fr. John Dear directly:  1-505-629-2029 or  johndearsj@msn.com. His website is at johndear.org