Always You.

We think ourselves radical, the way we wait for You.

We give up things, and, well, it's hard. We stir ourselves up to hunger for You by provoking the cravings of our stomachs and tongues. We choose to cause ourselves to want You again. To miss You even as we miss our desserts.

This Lenten season is getting long, You know.

And then, in a shattering moment of radical self-awareness, we realize we are not the radical ones. We look around and see that we all, the whole lot of us, are in the same place… stirring up, provoking, choosing. We cannot all be radical, and we give ourselves away.

And then we notice You.

You in Your stirring way, mixing within our beings the potency only found by combining Your Spirit with Your people.

You in Your provoking way, inching us toward a greater holiness as You lay Your holy body on crossed beams of wood.

You in Your choosing way, selecting us for Yourself and not selecting some, without deference to how uncomfortable it makes us.

Yes, You are the radical One. Even in this Lenten season, where we pride ourselves on piety, we notice it is You again.

You. Always You.

Always You.

This Lenten season is getting long, You know.

Yes. You do.

Come, Lord Jesus. Be Easter among us.

Come.

And Easter us again in You.

Always You.