During Sunday School, we reached the end of our ‘Faces of Easter’ stories. One of the most poignant parts of the final portion of this story is the idea that Easter is a mixture of sadness and celebration. Both are so important to the story that we can’t pull them apart and consider them separately – we need to hold both of those feelings at the same time in order to truly understand the mystery of Easter.

One of the most intriguing stories we tell in Sunday School is called “The Part that Hasn’t Been Written Yet.” The “story” is a beautiful journal, kept in the classroom on an ornate metal stand, always available, waiting for a young person to ask what it is. When they do, they are informed that this part of the story, the story that begins at the beginning and is still happening today, will be written by them.

We are deeper into the season of Lent, drawing ever closer to the mystery of Easter. This week, continue your contemplation in the desert, just like Jesus did.

As we continue through the Lenten season, we’ll continue to focus on prayer and mindfulness activities to help your family draw closer to each other and to the mystery of Easter. This week, incorporate a simple yet lovely new practice into your family’s prayer time: prayer sticks.

During this season of Lent, we are turning down the noise and tuning in to the many gifts around and within us using the practice of mindfulness. Mindfulness is simply an increased awareness of the present moment, and it can be focused inward (the breath, sensations within the body) or outward (using the five senses, cultivating gratitude).