Written by Richelle Thompson
Psalm 5:8 (NRSV) Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness, because of those who lie in wait for me; make your way straight before me.
My spiritual practice during one Lent was to give up obsessing about my enemy. This coworker was difficult, tempestuous, deceitful. I spent hours each week wondering why the person had done or said certain things—and what might happen next. Many lunchtime conversations centered around this topic, and mutual disdain for the person became a twisted bond among other coworkers.
I am sure Jesus wasn’t pleased. So during the forty days of Lent, I fasted from fretting. I stopped engaging in side conversations, and when I rolled through the day’s events in my mind, I let the ones connected to this individual slide past. Soon I reclaimed some peace and took back the power I had given this one person to trouble my days. We didn’t become friends. But by the end of Lent, I could pray for the person without feeling like a liar, and I gave thanks for a straighter way.
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