“When hearts become ashes”

Come pray both sides this Lent

Do we remember the leaves that became today’s ashes? The palms our palms held.

For Valentine’s Day on Ash Wednesday: When hearts become ashes.

She’s mid-childhood. I’m mid-life. An exquisite essay on evolving love from Courtney Martin.

Listen to a short collection of Rilke’s poetry from The Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, read by translators Joanna Macy and Anita Burrows. (Emergence Magazine podcast)

Check out the latest essay by Lyndsey Medford for its provocative perspectives and its conclusion about communion (which I can’t quit either): The spiritual practice of going to church.

Need a prayer practice for Lent? Start with laundry: “Chore” by Angela Narcisco Torres.

Pray Both Sides

I love stretching my imagination in prayer. Over the years I’ve shared what I call “pray both sides”: remembering the flip side of any petition. If I prayed for a sick friend, I’d also pray for those who had recovered or the sick who had no one to pray for them. If I prayed for a couple hoping to conceive, I could also pray for anyone overwhelmed by an unexpected pregnancy. There are 1,000 ways to pray both sides. 

Many of you have loved praying both sides when I shared it on Instagram, and I’ve slowly been working on a book for this (interrupted by pandemic, cancer, etc.). This has become a transformative way to pray, and I’d love to share more with you.

If you’d like an extra reflection for your Lenten reading, I’ll be sending a special “mini-chapter” to paid subscribers each Sunday, including:

• two Scripture passages that show different “sides” of God

• a new essay exploring these images of God

• a breath prayer

• ways to pray both sides 

• and a chance to offer your own petitions

If you’re looking for a simple but powerful way to pray through Lent, this weekly taste of Pray Both Sides will open up new ways to see God. To receive the Sunday offerings right in your inbox, you can join for only $5/month.