Alleluia?

As I write this in the early morning, the sun is just starting to show pink and yellow through the trees on the east side of the convent. One of our Matin hymns is running through my head, “Behold, another day is given for us to journey on towards heaven, when Christ invites us to awake, to work and love for Love’s own sake.”

Today is Shrove Tuesday. At the convent we are preparing for tomorrow’s observation of Ash Wednesday and for beginning our journey through Lent. It seems too soon. It seems like we just barely settled into Epiphany season. It definitely feels too soon and too incongruous to be thinking ahead to Easter joy. How will “Alleluia” be sung this year? Will it be resonant, deep, and genuine? Or will it be a good intention that feels empty and hollow?

These are difficult, even agonizing, times for everyone, regardless of where one sits on the political spectrum. I’m finding it difficult to pray for national and world events—it all seems too large and terrible and out of control. The needs are too enormous; I can’t get my heart and my arms around them.

Then I remember times when I have just been sitting quietly with God. These are not big knock-your-socks-off, mountain-top experiences, just times of peace and stillness on my own little holy hilltop. Time and place melt away. I am entirely present in this one moment, and at the same time, I feel like I’m touching the edge of infinite, holy space. The great sweep of time and space open up to fill me with a sense of awe.

Then very quietly, as if coming from within a misty cloud, I hear God’s voice, “Get up and do not be afraid. I got this.”

And so, I’m reminded that God is in charge. This reassurance offers a solid sense of rest and consolation. It is a promise of God’s faithfulness. It provides an opening into the all-loving heart of God, which embraces all creation and events: the good, the bad, and the terrible.

Christ invites us to awake—to God’s all-encompassing compassion, even and especially when we are feeling most alone and abandoned. God is calling us to get up and keep going and to “work and love for Love’s own sake” so that on Easter morning we may sing out “Alleluia!” with joy in our hearts.

–Sr. Ellen Francis, OSH

Where do you find solace and even joy in difficult times? How could God’s presence give you comfort in these days?