Walking into Lent

Written by Jeff Thiele on Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Talk about blanket of comfort.

Resting on the eve of Lent (some may call it Fat Tuesday), my heart was astray. For some reason, the word “paczki” seemed to aggravate me, my mind was swirling and I had a difficult time feeling any sense of peace within myself. The time of day reached ten o’clock and I was truly ready to go to bed and get rid of this day I was having. Although upon arriving home, I was greeted by my very much still awake roommates, which I normally would absolutely love but at this point put me more on edge. I questioned what was happening with me at that point.

So I laid down into a bed of empty, swirling thoughts that I knew were just put in my mind to make me feel uncomfortable. My mind went to what Jesus perhaps might have felt upon entering the desert – uneasiness, angst, sadness… Knowing that Jesus might have been feeling this way eased me enough to let my dreams take over.

I woke up the next day with a small headache, but I could tell the headache was truly of the body, nothing else. Getting up felt different. While walking into the kitchen a blanket of warmth was simultaneously spread around me, a sign from God that today I would be okay with what I felt last night. I went about my day wearing this spiritual blanket across my shoulders, keeping me calm and in an ambient state of constancy about what my actions were, where my mind was and where I was headed. After receiving my ashes, I leaned back in my chair and felt a connection to those around me – we are all entering a journey, one that will push us into spiritual and emotional discomfort. However, I feel at peace with myself and with those around me, a peace that has blanketed itself over the entire Church, that tells us to go forth and be secure in who we are and where our journeys might take us this Lent.

Suggestion for Prayer:
Take some time in silence to become aware of God’s peace inside of you.

Jeff Thiele
Jeff is a junior studying Biomedical Engineering with a minor in music at U of M.  Although he’s being taught how to think analytically, his creative side seems to dominate all that he does. He believes that connecting spiritually and emotionally to other people via expression is essential to all humans and hopes that, through his role as a retreats intern here at SMSP, he can relay his lessons learned and thoughts on life to other students in new and interesting ways.
Email: jsthiele@umich.edu