MARCH
2009
2009
Dear Ones,
In Ann Weems’ beautiful book of poetry entitled Kneeling in Jerusalem, there is a lovely poem which I will read at the Ash Wednesday service which suggests that there might be “Hallelujahs” lingering in the ashes of last Palm Sunday’s palm leaves. Wow! What a spiritual concept!! Lent can be a somber time, if we only look at the outward trappings. The colors are dark, the scriptures are almost accusatory in their calls to repentance - not to mention much of the time the weather outside is frightful.
As we look back over the time since last Ash Wednesday, we can see deaths, births, growth, change, as well as some of the same old same old. We have said goodbye to some old friends. We have welcomed new ones. Some have left the church and some have come to find faith for the first time or to renew their faith. While there are some things we need to reflect on and repent of, in much of it there are Hallelujahs! Such is the journey of Christian life lived in community.
In our current Bible study, Finding Faith in a Hurricane, author Graham Standish suggests that much of what we experience in our journey of faith is based on our expectations. He says, “We want God to do so much for us that we cannot see what God has already done or is doing for us”. Hmmm.
SO! Do you expect to find Hallelujahs amidst the ashes of Lent? In your daily life? In God’s church?
I’ve been told that I observe Lent as a spiritual leader more fully than is common in many Protestant churches. I’m not alone in that, by the way. Many of us are getting back to the Tradition (note capital T) that is older than “the way we’ve always done it here” because we believe that is how the faith is carried from generation to generation and that when these traditions are lost, we risk losing the opportunity to allow God to transform our lives. One cannot fully experience God’s amazing grace in the joy of Easter morning until one has experienced God’s grace in
Jesus’ walk toward the cross with his followers
Jesus’ death on the cross as they experienced it
Jesus’ resurrection as they witnessed it.
So let us join in a Holy Lent. Come to the Lenten worship series on Thursday night, the Lenten Dinner theatre on March 14, the worship serviced in Holy Week. Jesus will meet you there, if you expect to find Him.
In Ann Weems’ beautiful book of poetry entitled Kneeling in Jerusalem, there is a lovely poem which I will read at the Ash Wednesday service which suggests that there might be “Hallelujahs” lingering in the ashes of last Palm Sunday’s palm leaves. Wow! What a spiritual concept!! Lent can be a somber time, if we only look at the outward trappings. The colors are dark, the scriptures are almost accusatory in their calls to repentance - not to mention much of the time the weather outside is frightful.
As we look back over the time since last Ash Wednesday, we can see deaths, births, growth, change, as well as some of the same old same old. We have said goodbye to some old friends. We have welcomed new ones. Some have left the church and some have come to find faith for the first time or to renew their faith. While there are some things we need to reflect on and repent of, in much of it there are Hallelujahs! Such is the journey of Christian life lived in community.
In our current Bible study, Finding Faith in a Hurricane, author Graham Standish suggests that much of what we experience in our journey of faith is based on our expectations. He says, “We want God to do so much for us that we cannot see what God has already done or is doing for us”. Hmmm.
SO! Do you expect to find Hallelujahs amidst the ashes of Lent? In your daily life? In God’s church?
I’ve been told that I observe Lent as a spiritual leader more fully than is common in many Protestant churches. I’m not alone in that, by the way. Many of us are getting back to the Tradition (note capital T) that is older than “the way we’ve always done it here” because we believe that is how the faith is carried from generation to generation and that when these traditions are lost, we risk losing the opportunity to allow God to transform our lives. One cannot fully experience God’s amazing grace in the joy of Easter morning until one has experienced God’s grace in
Jesus’ walk toward the cross with his followers
Jesus’ death on the cross as they experienced it
Jesus’ resurrection as they witnessed it.
So let us join in a Holy Lent. Come to the Lenten worship series on Thursday night, the Lenten Dinner theatre on March 14, the worship serviced in Holy Week. Jesus will meet you there, if you expect to find Him.
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