That's a question I found myself contemplating along with other colleagues as we put together our Lenten discussion series.
Lent is the time in the Church year when we step back from the culture of "more is better" and embrace a simpler way of being. Some view it as a somber season, when we deliberately refrain for indulging our every whim.
We at Westminster are planning a series of discussions where people from our congregation share stories of times in their lives when they overcame some adversity, a time when they experienced a kind of resurrection after their own Good Friday.
The opposite of adversity is what you experience after you have overcome it. Redemption, maybe, is a good word for it. Whatever we call it, it is different from the way life was before. We can never go back to life before adversity. In fact, the new life after overcoming a difficult chapter has much fuller meaning than before.
Walter Brueggemann describes three different types of Psalms: Psalms of Orientation, Disorientation and New Orientation. In Orientation, the psalmist praises God for the wonders of the world and the glory of God's love. Disorientation psalms are when the psalmist cries out to God for help in a time of deep distress. New Orientation are the psalms that thank God for deliverance and salvation. You only have this new perspective when you've overcome something and fully depended on God.
So what's the opposite of your adversity? What new orientation do you have in your life because of something God has brought you through?