A Daily Challenge
During the season of Lent, the United Methodist Church offers a devotional called the Photo-a-Day Challenge, meant to inspire reflection and interaction throughout one’s Easter preparations. We thought you might like to take part, albeit with a little twist.
For those who are plugged into social media, it might be fun to participate in the “official” Photo-a-Day Challenge. A word has been selected for each day between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, all taken from the scripture passages that are often read during this time of year. In fact, this week’s words come from the scripture reading we heard at Desert Mission this morning! For each word, you are invited to pause, reflect, and respond. The instructions on how to respond are on the UMC’s “Rethink Church” page (it also includes the full calendar of words). Many people post photos, hence the name of the challenge, but you can also share a poem, a video, or your thoughts.
Some folks might prefer a more personal way of interacting with this idea, and making this a family activity is a beautiful alternative. Here’s how you might do that:
Share the daily word with your family each the morning. Each person can spend the day looking for the word in the world around them. Someone might take a picture with their phone, while someone else comes across an object, or pulls up a favorite quote that the word brings to mind. Be sure to set aside some time for creation too, especially if you have kids or other especially imaginative people in your family – they might like to paint something, or write a poem, or make something out of Legos, and it’s important to leave space for that during the day.
You can share your responses at dinner each night, and we encourage you to incorporate the guideline of the “official” challenge that says that you don’t have to explain your response. A response presented without words is just as valid as one that has a story behind it.
If you accept the Lent challenge, we invite you to start today! The word is “celebrate.” Remember to pause, reflect, and respond. You can, of course, keep your responses in the family, but if you’d like to share them with us as well, you can do so on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
