Psalm 40:1,3. I waited patiently upon the Lord...He put a new
song in my mouth.
Lent offers time for reflection, hope, and prayer. Often I
pray for patience to sustain hope with the slow pace of change. I enter Lent
planting a few seeds of hope to shift my work-life balance, with daily prayers
of gratitude and songs of praise.
My daughter and I just spent the weekend visiting the
Tenement Museum at 97 Orchard Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I
reflect on this psalm thinking about the stories of the immigrants who lived in
this place and era. They faced risks and made sacrifices which I find
challenging to imagine. With faith, they were pulled from the mire and give
sure footing on a new precipice, facing the new risks of finding employment and
enduring harsh living conditions. Each subsequent generation received blessings
of education, jobs, and better living conditions. The seeds of hope I plant
today are the product of the sacrifices made by my ancestors who risked so
much. The risks we take to make dramatic changes in our lives today provide
renewed soil for the seeds our children will plant in the future. I enter Lent
singing a new song of praise for all the blessings we receive, thanks to
sacrifices made for us.
—Gretchen Breunig
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