At the cross. photo by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Ash Wednesday Prayer Experience
Station 2: Reflect and Rejoice

The Setting
A medium sized room with low lighting. Chairs and a kneeler face an empty cross. (We painted ours black.) We then painted the following words for reflection on a canvas drop cloth, hung it behind the cross, and illumined it with a spotlight: unconditional love, power, mercy, life, compassion, guidance, obedience, strength, sacrifice, healing, atonement, grace, Holy Spirit, forgiveness, and comfort.

The Experience
1. As persons enter the room, they read the following: Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57 NRSV) The unconditional love of God brought Jesus to earth to die so that you may live. Reflect upon His sacrifice. Thank God for the gift of forgiveness and the gift of new life available to you through Christ.

2. Persons may sit or kneel for their time of reflection and prayer. Have tissues available as well as pen and paper for journaling.

A small group leader prepares a group of teens for their reflection time. photo by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia.

My Experience
As I knelt before the cross, I slowly read the words. All were important in their own way, yet the word I returned to again and again was guidance. I remembered a story where the word guidance was broken apart to mean “God ‘u’ and ‘i’ dance.” I imagine gliding and spinning and leaping, all moves which require lightness of foot and freedom of movement.

What has me earthbound in this season of shedding- shedding false understandings, shedding sin sick ways, shedding illusions of God and self, shedding  stumbling blocks and inhibitions? What must be nailed to the cross so that the grace of God might flow freely in me and through me?

Leap of Faith
by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

There are times when I feel in perfect rhythm with you
Other times I feel out of step
Confused and unnerved like a child on her first day of class

You offer me your hand again, that I may follow your lead
I want to fly in your arms, trusting you are always there to catch me
but I hold back
I have been dropped before by other partners

You understand
You are a patient teacher

You train me in the discipline of your ways
I become flexible and strong
Quicker to respond to your touch
You show me step after step
I begin to understand your timing
I want to trust it, even when you are beyond my sight
You move again and again and again in my life
My confidence in you grows
I take the leap of faith

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This station is the second of four prayer stations designed for use on Ash Wednesday. They could of course be used anytime when the themes for self reflection and prayer include our mortality, our sorrow for our sin, and re-commitment to living in alignment with God’s holy will.

prayer station © 2012 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia and Nicole Sallee. You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution. Please contact Lisa for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Leap of Faith © 2011 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia. You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution. Please contact Lisa for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

For more information on the scripture translation, photos and the use of this resource in other settings, please refer to the copyright information page.