Weekend Wisdom, March 12, 2023
Many of you know the gauntlet of stoplights on GV in Bellevue. I navigate that stretch regularly and as I was sitting at one of the stoplights this past Monday I found myself watching each driver as they made their lefthand turn. I was struck by the fact that each face, whether they were living it or not, was the face of a child of God - the put together young professional, the sleepy-eyed man in the old farm truck, the minivan matriarch rocking her mom bun, the stone-faced man trying to beat the red light.
Two weekends ago, Fr. Mike reflected upon the Gospel story of Jesus being tempted in the desert and he talked about our identity. The scene takes place in the scriptures right after God has affirmed Jesus’ identity as his “beloved son”. And what does Satan immediately do? He tempts Jesus with his identity. “If you are the Son of God…” We heard about Jesus identity again this past weekend in the story of the Transfiguration.
Our modern world is also obsessed with identity and Satan knows how to use that to cut us to the core. How many of us are familiar with the phrase, “I feel SO seen”? Just like the Samaritan woman at the well in the Gospel this weekend, we thirst to be seen, but we are also afraid to be revealed for who we have become. We know we are sinners. We are tempted. We lack self-control. Sin and ignorance creep into our lives and we lose sight of the fact that we were baptized as beloved sons and daughters of God.
That is why Lent is so meaningful to me. It is about stripping away the masks that we wear and the habits that we form that keep us from our true identity as beloved children of God. Praise God that like the woman at the well that my sinfulness and distraction isn’t the end. Jesus died for us and if we want it, His grace can make us whole again. The sins can be forgiven. The habits and attachments and addictions to food, shopping, substances, pornography, co-dependence, anger and more can be broken and healed because Jesus already claimed our sins and took them to the Cross. We don’t have to prove our identity, but we have to know it and claim it.
I encourage you this week to open yourself to the gentle guidance of Jesus. As we see the woman at the well open herself to Jesus’ message and as we hear the psalm encourage, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Maybe Jesus’ voice leads you to confession this Thursday or Stations of the Cross on Friday. Maybe it leads you to our Lent by Candlelight: The Quiet Voices of Lent next Tuesday.
Wherever it leads you, may you know God’s mercy and deep, abiding love for you.
Amberly Boerschinger
Director of Communications and Technology
