Lent JourneySample

DAY 19-25

Scripture of the week:

33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) Mark 15:33 − 34 (NIV)

THE ABSENCE

It is this great absence
that is like a presence, that compels me to address it without hope
of a reply. It is a room I enter

from which someone has just gone, the vestibule for the arrival of one who has not yet come.
I modernise the anachronism

of my language, but he is no more here than before. Genes and molecules have no more power to call
him up than the incense of the Hebrews

at their altars. My equations fail
as my words do. What resources have I
other than the emptiness without him of my whole being, a vacuum he may not abhor?

R S Thomas


The poet describes God as The Absence that is like a presence that one can address. Paradox!
Take note of the image of the room . . . he was here just now, he will return!
‘My equations fail as my words do’ – apophatic theology.
This emptiness, this vacuum in me, will God despise it?
The emptier I become, the closer I probably get to the Big Absence.


DAY 19
M God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Jesus faces the darkest moments of his life. Much has been said about these words – the Seven Last Words from the Cross.

Just 24 hours earlier life was completely different for Him when He proclaimed that He was not alone and that his Father was with Him (John 16:32). But here, dying on the cross, there is no sign of this intimacy. The word ‘Father’ was constantly on Jesus’ lips, but not any more! Not only did his people leave Him, his Father has also left Him. He is alone. How terrible it must be to reach the end of your life and nothing makes sense anymore.

And yet He prays.

Even in his darkest hour He continues to talk to God – raw honesty.
And although He does not address God as ‘My Father’ in this moment, He calls Him ‘My God’. Jesus is holding on!

To be confused and alone is horrible, especially when one feels as if deserted by God. These feelings and experience are scary. Without a doubt Jesus felt the same.

I follow Him and just like Him I want to be honest about my feelings, even those that expose my unbelief.

But I want to hold on, just like He did.

EXERCISE
• Read through the Scripture twice, slowly.
• Use all your senses to see the events unfold in your mind’s eye.
• What do you see?
• What do you hear?
• How do you feel?

Pray the following imagination prayer*:

You are standing on Golgotha at the foot of the three crosses.
Your eyes are glued to the person on the cross in the middle . . . Jesus. You can see the wounds to his head, back, hands and feet.
You can hear his difficult breathing.
In the past three hours it has become quieter around you. The initial excitement has given way to uncertainty. Who is Jesus?
You see Him lifting his head is head and hears Him calling out in a loud voice: Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
His words resonate deep within you.
Think about a time in your life when you felt that God had forsaken you. In prayer speak to God about this.
It may help to write your prayer down in a journal.