Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Hello everyone,
The sun is shining – so there is a smile on my face. It is Ash Wednesday so I am wearing black – and it is Valentine’s Day (and my youngest daughter’s birthday) so I have a red sweater. I think I have it all covered 😊
But today marks the beginning of the 40 days in Lent – and that is significant. Again Lent is a time to prepare for the two biggest events in the church year – Good Friday and Easter Sunday. They go together - like two sides of the same coin. One is not complete without the other. Joy and suffering, sunshine and shadow, hope and despair – they all go hand in hand – for such is the human experience. God reveals God’s self in both. Lent is preparing ourselves to experience both, even at the same time. I was talking to someone in the congregation who just found out his mother is full of cancer. Standing with him you can see both sides. The deep love he has for his mom is a source of joy, even a source of identity for him. The pain of losing her is written all over his face.
Sometimes, we shrink from difficult emotions. Sometimes it seems too hard to bear. Lent helps us in this regard. As we prepare for both Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we walk with Jesus in his pain and suffering. Indeed we see in the suffering of people all around the face of Jesus. Walking with others in their pain helps to prepare us for Good Friday. Sharing stories of joy and peace in their lives helps us to prepare for Easter Sunday.
Last week, I gave you a word (or words) to focus on each day. These words are designed to help you in your Lenten journey. Take some time each day to reflect on these words and ideas. Pray about them. Research them if you are able. Learn about them and try to give them up as best you can. If you think it is impossible to do, just try to give them up for an hour or two, or a minute or two. Prayer does help.
They are as follows:
Day 1 of Lent - Ash Wednesday – being the victim. Today I invite you to give up being the victim – to take control of your life. Sometimes telling a story 6 different ways helps you to get away from feeling the victim
Day 2 of Lent – Thursday, February 15 – give up the fear of failure. Everybody fails repeatedly. Failure is very human. It is something we all do. Failure is necessary in order to move forward. The only option to failure is to do absolutely nothing.
Day 3 of Lent – Friday, February 16 – give up feelings of unworthiness – God made you. You have value. As a small child once said, ‘God made me and God don’t make junk’.
Day 4 of Lent – Saturday February 17 – give up staying in your comfort zone. Growth comes when you stretch
First Sunday in Lent – we will focus on the word ‘practice’ – it takes practice to hold onto both joy and sorrow at the very same time. It takes practice to give up these things suggested in the first 6 days of Lent
Day 5 of Lent – Monday February 19 – give up apathy because life is just too short not to care
Day 6 of Lent – Tuesday February 20 – give up negativity – reframe your experiences in the best way possible. God is always present. God is always at work in your life and in the world around
Day 7 of Lent – Wednesday February 21 - stay tuned
One more practice you may want to consider during Lent is to come to the Mid day Lenten pause worship services offered by St. Peters on Wednesdays at noon in the Covenant Chapel. There will be some refreshments following
And one final thing – today Pastor Mark and I are meeting with CTV to look at possibilities going forward. As you may have heard CTV is no longer able to produce our worship services. We are talking about producing them ourselves and CTV has indicated that they may be willing to continue to air the services. Please keep us in your prayers
Take care everyone
Marty