Fourth Sunday in Lent
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the Human One be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him isn’t judged; whoever doesn’t believe in him is already judged, because they don’t believe in the name of God’s only Son.
“This is the basis for judgment: The light came into the world, and people loved darkness more than the light, for their actions are evil. All who do wicked things hate the light and don’t come to the light for fear that their actions will be exposed to the light. Whoever does the truth comes to the light so that it can be seen that their actions were done in God.”
John 3:14-21 (CEB)
Where does compassion come from?
Some people seem naturally to have a gift for compassion. They instinctively appear to know how to perceive someone else’s need and find a way to meet it.
But that’s probably more the exception than it is the rule. For most of us, compassion is something we have to work at. We need to learn how to see beyond our own wants and needs and agendas in order to respond to the pain and suffering others are experiencing.
Almost paradoxically, though, it seems that the key to knowing and loving others well is somehow rooted in knowing and loving ourselves. It’s as if self-awareness and self-compassion are both a condition for and a result of compassionate living.
This week at New Wineskins we’ll be talking about spiritual practices that can help us nurture compassion, and how those practices can lead us nearer and nearer into the heart of beloved community.
Please join us this Sunday, March 10, in the New Wineskins Virtual Theology Pub powered by Zoom as we continue our Lenten journey toward Easter and Resurrection with a conversation about nurturing compassion.
6:00pm ET: Happy Half-Hour (informal meet & greet time)
6:30pm ET: Presentation & conversation begin
This week’s discussion video from The Work of the People unfolds the ways that entering into the mystery of suffering opens the doors of compassion…for ourselves as well as for others.
Click here to view this week’s discussion video (email address required)
Lent 2024: A Journey Into Self-Awareness
Many of us have experienced Lent as a season of repentance and self-sacrifice…of giving something up or letting something go.
But what if we saw it instead not as self-sacrifice, but self-awareness? What if we use these six weeks as an opportunity to know ourselves better and seek the kind of transformation that Divine Love invites us into?
This year for Lent, we’ll be exploring various spiritual practices designed to awaken us to who we are and what our place might be in the ongoing love project of transforming the world.
Do you receive our weekly newsletter?
If you haven’t already signed up for our weekly email newsletter, now would be a great time! Get weekly announcements delivered to your inbox so you don’t miss a thing. Plus, when you sign up, you’ll get a free digital download of our New Wineskins Manifesto for Spiritual Exiles!
Click here to subscribe to our newsletter!
Invest in our community!
Want to invest in our community for Spiritual Exiles and our work to create and support online micro-communities focused on justice and liberation? Our online giving platform makes it easy for you to support the work we do! Just click the link below to give. Recurring gifts support the community over the long-term…your assistance helps us grow and sustain the important work we’re doing together!
Feature image by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com
Leave a Reply