Reaching Out and Reaching In

If devotion is about establishing a deeper connection with God, then it should also be about establishing a deeper connection with each other. As much as Lent is a time of personal devotion, for solitary silence and for individual reflection, it is also about relationship. It is about how we relate to God and everything, everyone around us. Spending time in isolation can be great for contemplation and spiritual practice, but lunch with a friend or checking in with a covenant support group can be just as good for the soul. Reaching out and reaching in are not opposites, but rather two sides of the same coin. A forty minute conversation with a good friend can be as lifting to your spirits as the same amount of time spent in prayer. The point is that we need to make time for both. We need to reach out and be intentional about our relationships, to call up that friend, find the time to share a meal, give of ourselves so that the people who matter to us know it. We also need to reach in, to take a walk, to find our moments of retreat each day and in all of it we need to seek God. Lent is a time for deep connection.