Not much to report today

This will be a brief update. The Mark’s gospel reading challenge is going OK. I read another couple of chapters today. I also started mapping out the next page of the art and prayer journal which will be for chapters 6, 7 and 8 up to verse 21. I decided to do bits in pencil first and then when I am happy with the layout replace them with proper paintings/drawings etc.

There’s a lot about bread in that section – feeding a total of 9,000 people (plus) with just a few loaves and fish. Then the significant number of baskets left over and the warning about the yeast of the Pharisees. Jesus was busy crossing the lake and going from village to village. Mark packs a lot into his gospel. Not sure how this page will end up. But I didn’thave time for more than this today.

I did listen to the #Live Lent reflection, but it didn’t really speak to me. However, I include it her for you.

Bible reading – Luke 15.8-10 (NLT)Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.

Reflection The three parables that Jesus tells in Luke 15 are not just about lost things. In fact, only today’s reading falls into that category.  Another is about a lost sheep, a living creature. Those of us who have treasured pets know how deeply another creature can make its way into a human heart. Yet another is about a lost son. People can be lost too. A person can be “lost” through a set of broken relationships, through addiction, through some kinds of mental illness. Of course, “lostness” in this case doesn’t necessarily mean the person is literally missing. But they may feel that they are lost from others, from the path they were on, from God, even from themselves. In all these parables, we see a glimpse of God who is always seeking those who are lost. And we are told that when they are found again, there is great rejoicing in heaven.

Prayer Loving God, I pray for all who are lost in some way. I ask that you would find them and bring them back to yourself with great rejoicing. Amen.

I did pray the final prayer. I am so glad that I was found many years ago.