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Lent Resources

As my last post expressed, I am by no means a Lenten expert. If you are looking for help with Lent, I would point you to Rachel Held Evans or Kari. Most of my resources come from them. But of their suggestions, these are some of the ones I'm finding helpful right now.

  • Wondrous Encounters, Richard Rohr
    I loved Rohr's advent devotional and have read it two years in a row. So far, I like the Lenten devotional even better. He wrote it during a Lenten hermitage in Arizona in 2010, and it reads as though it was birthed out of contemplation and prayer. I like him because he is okay wrestling with the Bible, and it seems like the people who are okay wrestling with the Bible are the ones that can bring out the most beauty from it. His words are challenging, refreshing and hopeful.




[caption id="attachment_1365" align="aligncenter" width="300"]20140314-141906.jpg From Wondrous Encounters, the Friday after Ash Wednesday.[/caption]



  • Pray as you go
    These are daily, 10-12 minute podcasts produced by Jesuit Media Initiatives, and they are perfect for focused prayer, particularly while driving. I try to listen to them twice, on my way to work and on my way back. The fun thing during Lent is that the scripture readings are the same as in the Rohr book, so I get a chance to pray through verses I read earlier that morning.




  • Divine Hours
    I have been wanting to do fixed hour prayer for ages, and with my desire to bring more liturgy into my life, this seemed a good time to start. It is new for me, and I have needed lots of help to figure out what the heck I'm doing. But I am getting the hang of it. (One important note: don't buy the kindle version. It leaves out the headers, so you don't know which day you are on, and it will make you feel very dumb. Or at least, it made me feel very dumb.)



20140314-152141.jpg


  • The Last Week, Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan
    Last year I listened to the book of Mark over and over again during my commute as a way to take in bigger chunks of scripture. I love the gospels, but there are some confusing things in there, many times when I wonder "what in the world is Jesus saying?" So I have really enjoyed Borg's and Crossan's way of bringing Jesus's last week, as told by Mark, to life. If my post on the Son of God made you want to learn more about the cultural climate in which Jesus preached the good news, read this book. Depending on how much of a theology nerd you are, you might have mixed emotions regarding Marcus Borg. He, too, wrestles a good bit with the Bible. And yet, at least in this book, he seems to take the gospels more seriously than many evangelicals do. And reading this is making me love Jesus more.


These things are making my time in prayer more meaningful, and they are helping me to stick to my Lenten goal of mindfulness. What have you been reading lately? Are there any great Lenten resources I should be taking advantage of? 

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