Compassionate God,
you have fed us with the bread of heaven.
Sustain us in our Lenten pilgrimage:
may our fasting be hunger for justice,
our alms, a making of peace;
and our prayer, the song of grateful hearts;
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.

I really liked this prayer from the liturgy this morning, partly because the verb sustain is one I've always loved, but mainly because the focus this prayer gives to each of the Lenten practices feels quite significant. The actions are not mere actions but intents to become more, to help me become more. The pastor preached on repentance, the act of turning around, and framed it as a turning towards rather than a turning away, a repenting to rather than a repenting of. It is a choice to focus on the spirit of God, to turn towards his presence in and over my life. The fact that in so turning I am also leaving other things behind is coincidental. This turning is not a spurning of guilt or a judgment on shame but an embracing of love and a decision to walk in the direction from whence I hear his voice.