As we near the end of the Lenten season, we are wrestling individually and communally with the movement of Holy Week, the challenges of wilderness, and the remembrance of death unto life. Here, we’ve gathered a few of the resources that are helping ground us in this season. May they allow you to pause, breathe, and feel the movement and hope of new life—even long after Easter Sunday has passed.
Lent by the Brilliance
The music by the Brilliance is often rooted in the church calendar. Their Lent album is a thoughtful invitation to reflect on the questions and challenges of this season. Though facing doubt and pain head-on, the beautiful surprise of this album is that it is not at all without hope.
The Inner Landscape of Beauty
In this On Being conversation with Krista Tippett, the Irish poet John O’Donohue (a frequent inspiration here at The Seattle School) reflects on how living itself is a creative act. O’Donohue reminds us that the movement of new life, which we celebrate on Easter Sunday, can spark new expressions of beauty in how we live, relate, and create.
Counting Descent by Clint Smith
In Holy Week we reaffirm our belief in death that leads to life and wilderness that fosters transformation. Though not explicitly Lent-related, Counting Descent, a collection of poetry by Clint Smith, is a vivid, haunting embodiment of the paradoxical beauty and hope that can emerge even in the wake of great suffering and injustice. You can watch Smith reading the title poem here.
Fault Lines by Andy Gullahorn
This album comes recommended by MA in Counseling Psychology student Nicolle Maurer, who writes that Gullahorn’s music is “paradoxically full of hope and despair, longing and gratitude,” which makes it fitting for this season. The line “even hell is not a God-forsaken place” seems especially apt for Holy Saturday.
How to Hear God’s Voice
Artist Scott Erickson, whose work is currently on display in our second-floor Commons, created a “40 Days of Practice” prayer book with writing by Justin McRoberts, and it’s stunning. You can get a copy for next year’s Lenten season, or let it ground and inspire you even now, as the church calendar move toward Pentecost and Ordinary Time.
Intersections blog
And in case you missed them, here are three Lent reflections written by Seattle School community members: Our Collective Wilderness by Beau Denton, Content Curator; The Quest of Transformation by Dr. J. Derek McNeil, Senior Vice President of Academics.