Sunday Mornin'

Write about a typical Sunday morning (or pick one out that is memorable) whether it is at church or not.  Do you have any rituals that you may or may not be conciously aware of?  Is there something holy and/or a faith ritual that you do that is outside of church?  You can write this as a celebration of the rituals that you love or as a testemony of things outside the norm that are faith-filled to you. You do not have to be a churchgoer to answer this question - just write about your experience inside or outside of the "God-box" ; )

Dear Me,

Lenten Writing Prompt #13
Write a loving, compassionate, hopeful letter from 'you' now to yourself at a difficult time in the past.  You can go back as far as you want : )

Silence

Lenten Writing Prompt #12
In this era of background noise, comments, white noise, traffic, news and checing the insistent notifications from facebook, twitter, texts and/or your kids in the back seat of your car, how do you quiet your mind and be in a still place to listen to God?

Temptation in Perspective

Lenten Writing Prompt #11
Write about the Bible story of Jesus' temtation in the wilderness from one character's perspective: the temptor, Jesus, a passing animal, God, etc. etc.  Be as creative as you want.

Ghost Church

Sunday is picture-prompt day!  Use this picture to inspire a piece of writing: a little background on this photo has been borrowed for our prompt today with permission from photographer Scott Haefner, who specializes in taking photos of old, abandoned places.  His website is here: www.scotthaefner.com It is an English, Gothic-style Presbyterian church built in 1911 in Detroit, MI.  What does this picture say to you? 
(please follow this link to see the picture: http://scotthaefner.com/photos/favorites/2817/ )

Little Faith Reminders

Lenten Writing Prompt #10
Is there a religious object (cross, note, 3rd grade Bible, special tree, picture, etc.) that is meaningful to you and/or symbolic to you and your faith?  Perhaps it is something that is an heirloom or perhaps it is something new - what is its history with you and why is it special to you?

It's My Generation...

Lenten Writing Prompt #9
Pop culture has coined many generational terms - Baby Boomers, The Greatest Generation, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, Gen X, Gen Y, Millennials, Is there a perspective about your faith that you feel is unique to your generation?  What is it?

God's Laughter

Lenten Writing Prompt #8
Have you ever seen or experienced the laughter of God?  What do you think God's laughter would look like?  Feel like?  Sound like?  Is there an example of someone laughing, which reminded you of what God's laughter would sound like?

Self-Compassion

Lenten Writing Prompt #7
Write about having compassion for yourself.  You can use an example of when you didn't have compassion for yourself, or write about how you want to - what it would look like - or write about ways that you already show compassion for yourself.  Any way you approach it, write about self-compassion today.

Compassion

Lenten Writing Prompt #6
Write about a time when you were challenged to show compassion for another person or an animal, even though it may have been difficult for you.

Enough

Lenten Writing Prompt #5
Write about a time when you were worried about having "enough".  Enough love, enough resources, time, etc.  How did you resolve it, if you were able to?

Sunday's Bonus Prompt

The fasting and austerity that we may participate in during Lent takes a Sabbath day on Sunday.  For those of you that would like the continuity of posting each day - even on Sundays - here is a bonus prompt, which on Sunday, will be only a picture:

Take a moment to contemplate this picture and then write whatever comes to you.  Blessings to you on this Sabbath day!

Tips for posting in the Lenten Writing Project

1. It’s helpful to draft your work onto a word document before posting, just in case you encounter a glitch with the blog (not anticipated, but still) or press a wrong key, you can have a saved copy of your work!
2. If you have a long piece that goes beyond the 4,5oo character limit (approximately 1 word doc page, if it's an essay), you can divide your work into 2 or more comments (with a ‘to be continued…’ and ‘…continued’) and post both.   We really want to read what you have!
3. Sometimes you finish what you’ve written but may feel it’s too vulnerable or personal to publish.  Don’t let perfectionism keep you from posting, but if what comes out of your muse from the prompt is something that you feel is for your eyes only, that’s OK not to publish, of course.  The point is that you got some great inspiration from that day’s prompt and you finished it!
4. You can encourage and comment on others’ posts and you can also comment on the comments of others’ posts.  One thing that makes this such a great project is hearing support back and giving support to others. 
5. You can go back and write or comment on any prompt at any time.  There is no time limit on writing from the prompts.  You may have a piece that takes a long time to edit or you may not feel inspired or too busy that day.  Trying to write each day - even if what comes out isn't perfect or you don't feel inspired - is the discipline part of this Lenten writing challenge for those of you that are doing it this way.  Others are dropping in and writing when they want to and that’s wonderful too.  Either way that you choose to participate, I am so excited for the responses we’ve had so far.  Really great writing from everyone!

Dear Alleluia,

Lenten Writing Prompt #4
Write about packing your Alleluias away for Lent: write a letter to them as if to a friend across the miles.  Write a musing about where they go while they are packed away - do they wait paitently for us in a room?  An island? What they are doing while they are waiting?  How do you feel without your Alleluias, do you miss them or does their temporary absence help you focus on the Lenten journey.  This is meant to be a fun, fantastical thought-piece, so write about whatever inspires you about being Alleluia-less during Lent.

How do you picture the Holy Spirit?

Lenten Writing Prompt #3
There are many metaphors for the Holy Spirit.  Dove, Holy Ghost, breath, wind...write your thoughts about the Holy Spirit today using either a new metaphor that you come up with or write about the Holy Spirit using an old one that has helped your faith and understanding.

Happy Lenten Valentine's Day...

Lenten Writing Prompt #2
What does a 'Lenten Valentine's Day' look like amid romantic expectations, children's valentine's day parties at school, the pressure to binge on excess from so many different sources...the list goes on.  Do you fight it?  Or is there a way for that to exist side by side with fasting, praying and/or giving?

We Are Stardust

Lenten Writing Prompt #1:
Today we will hear the words from Genesis 'for dust you are and and to dust you will return'.  The song 'Woodstock' (written by Joni Mitchell), suggests that we are all also stardust.  Knowing that life on earth is finite, but also that we are each made of the same ancient molecular material that makes up the stars from long ago, how does this influence the way you would like to please God with the life you have been given?

Welcome to the 2013 Lenten Writing Project

For those of you who are wanting to get a jump-start on the Lenten Writing project, here is a prompt to get your creative juices flowing: How are you preparing for the season of lent?  What does the transition from Epiphany to Lent - the changing of the liturgical seasons look or sound like?