Good Saturday Morning!
This last week my daughter in law posted some wonderful news on our family text thread. She told us that our granddaughter who is a sophomore and has been accepted and will start her college courses this fall. Two emotions came over me at the very same time: Oh, my gracious! That is wonderful! I am so proud of her! And…….. Oh, my gracious! How can this be? She is the baby. The youngest grandchild. Wasn’t it just a year or two since she was born????? So I have been living this week in this dual reality. Life is good and the future is bright. And…….. life is fragile….. it flows on – it waits for no one. Even baby girls grow up and begin their way on this earth. And grandmas gracefully grow older and find our way to the end.
Lent is a really good time to ponder on things such as these. We gathered for what I hope was a meaningful Ash Wednesday service this last week to begin this 40 day season of Lent. Lent is the time we make ourselves stop and think about our lives. We ask God to wipe away our sins, to create in us clean hearts, to remind us to stop creating treasures for ourselves, but to become more generous and caring toward others. During these 40 days, we walk toward the cross with Jesus. And we remember his suffering in the midst of his love for us.
In other words, Lent is the time we get real. We look past all our success, all our riches and possessions, all our achievements and possibilities. And we see our sin, our nothingness. Don’t want to go there? Well, the truth is, we must. Because it is there in our vulnerability, our stubbornness and our unforgiveness that God can be found and can rescue us through his deep, deep love. It’s not hard to do. Not really. Just let go. And let God.
For the next 6 weeks, I invite you, as the UM Book of Worship says, to observe a holy Lent. By self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting and self-denial and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word. May we begin! The ashes on our foreheads are gone, and the alleluias of Easter are coming. But not until we have traveled the journey of Lent where life is nothing without the gift of the cross.
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One way of celebrating Lent is to take part in our Lenten Mission Project of filling toiletry kits for the children of Murphy Harpst Children’s Center. We will get all the info tomorrow.
Another way is to take one of The Sanctuary for Lent 2025 booklets tomorrow and use for a daily Lenten devotion.
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The church is alive and well! Thanks be to God!
Love you all!
Rev. Martha