Here is the devotional for this Second Week of Lent.

Centering Prayer

Continue to pray the Centering Prayer. This prayer allows us to prepare our hearts and minds by resting in God’s grace. Here are some simple instructions for how to do this prayer.

Journaling

We encourage you to journal this Lenten season. Questions for Journaling are listed below. (You may want to listen to the podcast and Sunday’s sermon, then journal throughout the week.)

“Learning How to See” Podcast Episode 2

Episode 2: “Seeing Is A Social Act”

In a series of six episodes, three deeply spiritual theologians explore the different biases that shape our human seeing and how contemplation can help us see more clearly. 

Questions for Reflection/Journaling

  1. In what ways do you think you have preferred your tribe over truth?
  2. How do you break out of the “normal” when it is defined by the majority or those in power? In a similar way, have you ever had to come to terms with being white?
  3. Can you share a time when you had contact with someone who challenged what you see?
  4. How do we cultivate “Holy Curiosity” around the “Other?”

Worship Notes

The scripture for worship is the story of the Tower of Babel and Pentecost.

  1. What is the source of conflict in the story of the Tower of Babel? How does it explain the reason for human languages and cultural differences?
  2. In what ways does the story of Pentecost complete or contradict the story of the Tower of Babel?
  3. What does it mean that the sign of the Holy Spirit in the church is a capacity for diversity?
  4. Alex shared a story in his sermon about realizing how much his world was shaped by his whiteness? Do you have a similar experience?

The Confession of Faith following the sermon is from the Confession of 1967 in the PCUSA Book of Confession. It was a particular time of turmoil the life of the country and the Presbyterian Church felt it important to state what we believe in that time and context. The confession has at its center the doctrine of reconciliation between human beings and with Creation.

  1. What is the sin and its consequences at the heart of the evil in ourselves and in the world according to this Confession?
  2. What do you think of the assertion that even wise people of good will are in the wrong before God? Do you agree with this?
  3. What would our conversations with each other look like if we truly did not assume we are guiltless before God and did not see ourselves as morally superior to others?