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This Lent, we’re preaching a series called “Tell Me Something Good.” Lent is a time of preparation and discipline leading up to Easter, so this series strips Jesus’ life and ministry down to their root as a way to remind us how we’re called to live. At their core, Jesus’ teachings are full of love, liberation, mercy, and grace. Despite how they’ve been weaponized, they are meant to be good news for all. If you’d like to follow along with this series outside of just the sermons on Sunday mornings, you can find poetry, a daily devotional, visual art, and more at the “Lent” tab on our website or app.

Here is this week’s Lenten poem:

The Things That Matter Most
I wrecked the family car, an old gold minivan
that had traveled every inch of I-95.
It had worn cushions
and an old school map in the glove box.
It held a folder full of mix CDs
under the passenger seat
and every memory of every family trip,
and I wrecked it.
I called the tow truck
while the engine hissed and smoked.
I called my dad,
my own apologies tripping over themselves
to get to the front of the line.
I expected to be grounded.
I expected a “How could you?”
But when I got home that night,
my dad held me close and said,
“A car is just a car, but you are my child.
The only thing that matters is that you are okay.”
And I knew it for what it was.
It was mercy. It was love.
It was the thing that mattered most.

May we enter into this week keeping in mind what matters the most.

-Pastor Julia

Poem by Rev. Sarah A. Speed | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org