Draw Near: A Lenten Devotional
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For each day of Lent, you'll be guided to a psalm. Brief discussion/reflection questions, which can be used alone or in a group, will help you focus on Lenten themes. Each day you'll see a beautiful watercolor by the talented Dave Baab.
Here’s the two-stage story of how this devotional came to be:
Stage 1. In April 2014, the editor of Presbyterians Today, a Presbyterian Church (USA) magazine, asked if I would be interested in writing their 2015 Lenten Devotional. I agreed, as long as I could use a psalm for each entry. My colleague, New Testament Professor Paul Trebilco, helped me by finding a couple of lists showing connections between the Psalms and the Gospels, and I picked a good number of psalms that are quoted or referenced in the Gospels, especially in Holy Week. I also picked psalms that have helped me draw near to God. I spent the month of June 2014 writing the devotional, wallowing happily and luxuriously in the psalms that I had chosen, trying to find one main idea in each psalm to highlight. At some point in the process, the editor asked me if I knew any artists who might enjoy seeing their work in the devotional. I said, yes, I do happen to know an artist! I sorted through all the scans we have of Dave’s paintings to find images that are reflective and meditative.
A reader gave this feedback: "I'm using Lynne’s Lenten mediations daily and really finding constructive challenges, caring compassion and welcome healing through the meditation direction within them. The simplicity and succinct style of Lynne’s reflection and direction makes them highly accessible." So many other people told me how much they enjoyed focusing on one psalm for each day of Lent.
Stage 2. So often after 2015, I wished I could republish the devotional, but I knew that Presbyterians Today held the copyright. In early 2024, I called them to ask if I could buy the copyright back, and they said they would be happy for me to republish the the material in any form. Really? I asked if I could have verification in writing, and they sent me an email confirming that I could have the copyright back. So I formatted the material into book form, using one of Dave's nature illustrations for each day of Lent. The book is truly beautiful. The images look wonderful in the paperback version, and if you buy the kindle version and read it on your phone, the images are clear and bright.
If you'd like to read a sample of three of the entries in this devotional, look at this blog post.
If you'd like to consider another book with my talented husband Dave's watercolors, check out Friendship, Listening, and Empathy: A Prayer Guide. It has 28 short chapters on the topics in the title, and each chapter has one of Dave's watercolors.
