Gifts of the journey

Friday in the Second Week of Lent

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
Psalm 95:2

It has been a week of gift upon gift. Conversations have carried unlooked for affirmations. Work proposals have been met with enthusiasm and encouragement. My office has been filled with laughter along with industry. And even as I was giving thanks to Jesus for this abundance, a visitor brought a gift of flowers to welcome the coming of spring.

I need the discipline of recognizing these gifts of grace. I take them out, one by one, and take them in, absorbing their goodness. I do not want to leave them overlooked or underappreciated. I do not want to forget or forego my companions on this journey.

I can be tempted to go it alone. And the irony is not lost on me that during this season of Lent when my path compels me to look for the truth deep within me, acknowledge my faults and sinfulness, and repent, the enemy is close at hand, seeking to lead me astray into false self-reliance. But the call is not to cleanse myself from sin, but to turn back to God. And the God of grace has given me many, many companions on this journey.

Today, I choose not to squander the gifts. Today I will be on the lookout for more, including the friends I have along the way.