Lent 2024: Legacy of Love by Sis. Sidra Smith-Garner

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“Let all that you do be done in love.”

1 Corinthians 16:14 

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February 29, 2024

Legacy of Love

Each year as Lent arrives, my thoughts gravitate toward the notion of sacrifice. This year I am reflecting on my ancestors’ collective and individual sacrifices for me in ways I hadn’t previously. Semi-annual dental appointments; post-secondary degrees; Nike Cortez sneakers and patent leather shoes; a bedroom of my own; voting in every presidential election since age 18 – these things were my reality because my parents and grandparents and others whose names I do not know took action to benefit me.

I grew up taking these privileges for granted although my mom wore the same outfits year after year while I sashayed around in my new school clothes; listened to stories about my parents’ and their compatriots’ arrests and beatings and incarcerations during the 1960s; knowingly entered into predominantly white spaces through doors that my forebears pushed open without crossing the thresholds. Their actions are the essence of selflessness, a quality not often celebrated in today’s hyper-individualized, self-obsessed culture.

Acknowledging sacrifices made by previous generations enriches my Lenten journey. While human sacrifices pale in comparison to Christ’s, they offer a glimpse into the enormity of love-driven sacrifice. Reflecting on what other people have endured and surrendered for me, I come to a deeper appreciation of Jesus’ unparalleled sacrifice on the cross.

                                               Sister Sidra Smith-Garner

United Voices

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Prayer:  Gracious God, in this Lenten season, we come grateful for who we are and whose we are. Thank you for the love woven into each sacrificial action of parents, pioneers, and protesters. Help us grasp the depth of these generous acts, thereby, growing in our understanding of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice. Guide us to embody such selflessness in our own lives, reflecting Your boundless love. Amen.

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Lent 2024

We invite you to join us in reflection, meditation and prayer for a season of renewal, repentance and rejoicing from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.

Each day is a reflection representing the thoughts and aspirations of the members and friends of Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church expressing what the season of Lent means to them.  Their wide range of perspectives describe how this time of renewal, repentance and rejoicing has been and will be used to focus on Jesus’ life, crucifixion and resurrection.

Read along with us each day or download the book to read and write along with us offline.

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