“Gather your tools men, let’s go to work.”
I can’t tell you the first time one of my coaches hollered these words. I’ve heard it over the years in many other contexts. Working summers in construction we waited on these words to pick up our shovels to start digging ditches, and cooking for three hundred hungry inmates doesn’t happen without the tools of the trade. Even as I write these meditations, there a certain tools I need. A surgeon wouldn’t think of beginning an operation without first inventorying his instruments.
So as we begin our Lenten discipline it’s appropriate to ask what tools do I need to become a disciple – a radical disciple at that? Prayer is one tool.
During Lent we regularly pray for one another as an acknowledgement that we are all one body and that the well-being of one part of the body affects us all. Going to worship at whatever faith home you belong is going to an unique toolshed where the tools of one’s faith are stored. Your church, synagogue, mosque. etc. is full of history and tradition — tools used by our predecessors to do God’s work.
Meditation is a wonderful tool, steeped in Easter tradition, but used for centuries by Christians to reflect and be conscious of God’s presence. The Bible, Hebrew Scriptures, the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita, etc. are useful tools. St. Augustine tells us, “the Holy Scriptures are letters from home.”
Remember my new year’s resolution – great adventures, hone skills, and a few acts of daring. Lent is a time to sharpen our tools and put them to use in serving others. “Gather your tools men and women, let’s go to work.”
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