Finding Grace and Peace, Lent 2022

One of the ways I lead Houses of Prayer is to use the name people have given their place of worship as a compass for spiritual practice. This is true for The Church of St. Paul and Incarnation in Jersey City, New Jersey. I greet its faithful with the welcome, “Grace and Peace dwell here…”

Grace and Peace is the constant salutation that Paul uses in his letters to communities of faith. Incarnation is the Christian idea that God dwells on earth and in us. In the 40 days before Easter of 2022 I have invited people to find Grace and Peace.

No doubt some will find it in the traditional ways they have encountered God before; in Sunday morning worship, in fasting, and in prayer. Others, like New York Times opinion writer Margaret Renkl are seeking to expand the places of these encounters. I count myself among those at home in the Book of Common Prayer as well as one who has been found by God in diners and in grocery stores.

In church on the Sunday before Lent I preached a sermon about the Transfiguration of Jesus that began with an image on everyone’s mind, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Celebrity Chef, Yevhen Klopotenko, offered a reflection on how he was dealing with fear. “I just started to cook the borscht, and I forgot about everything, you know. And I don’t understand how it happened, but I started to cook, and I started to feel better. And then we sat together with parents and start to eat and you know, everything just start to look normal.”

Klopotenko’s reference point for the surreal experience was the Netflix movie, Don’t Look Up, where its characters came together for a last supper. Before the meal Timothee Chalamet’s character offered a traditional prayer, “Dearest Father and Almighty Creator, we ask for your grace tonight. Despite our pride, your forgiveness, despite our doubt. Most of all, Lord, we ask for your love to soothe us through these dark times. May we face whatever is to come in your divine will with courage and open hearts of acceptance.”
That Klopotenko thought of a prayer as his country was being invaded may not be surprising. For those of us paying attention to trends of religious affiliation it’s also not surprising is that the prayer was not from a traditional religious service or text.

The invitation to find Grace and Peace…in the season of Lent is an invitation that says gifts of prayer can be found in kitchens and on screens as well as in sanctuaries.