In this Lenten journey towards the cross and empty tomb, I continue to be reminded that, whatever else the Gospel is, it is God’s story. That’s important to remember; it is difficult to remain detached from story, since by its very nature story beckons involvement. Eugene Peterson says that theology as story becomes a “verbal [act] of hospitality”,[1] leading us not “to see God in our stories but our stories in God’s.  God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves”.[2]

So in my Lenten meditation I have sought to see my story in God’s through contemplating Jesus’ seven sayings from the cross, and attending to some possible prayers that arise. Perhaps, amidst the pre-Easter flurry, you might also like to come aside and ponder with me.

1. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do (Luke 23:34)
   How am I oblivious, Lord, to the ways in which I hurt, betray, dismiss, scoff, judge, malign, belittle, stymie, or show indifference to you? To others? What incarnations of ignorance does your forgiveness need to touch?
2. Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43)
   What is your promise of deep fellowship for me? What is the shape of our communion into which you are calling me?
3. Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother (John 19:26–27)
   Who are you giving me to care for, Lord, to become as family? Who have you given as carers for me?
4. My God, My God, have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46 & Mark 15:34)
   In what ways am I experiencing your absence? Where do I wish you would just show up, God? What am I to do with this sense of abandonment?
5. I thirst (John 19:28)
   What does your raw humanity, Jesus, mean for me? For my physicality? Whose thirst are you calling me to quench? What am I deeply thirsty for?
6. It is finished (John 19:29-30)
   What has your cross, Jesus, ‘finished’, moved on, dealt with in my life? What remains ‘unfinished’?
7. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit (Luke 23:46)
   How is your consecration to the Father becoming my own? In what dimensions of my life is your love further wooing my unfettered devotion?

[1] Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2005), 5.

[2] Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006), 44.

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