Pastor's Pen - February 2008

Dear Friends in Christ,

The Lenten season is already upon us with Ash Wednesday on February 6^th. This season is a season of repentance, renewal, and growth for the people of God. Ash Wednesday is the most somber of all of the days in the Christian calendar as the faithful are marked with the cross of ashes as a reminder that we are dust and to dust we shall return. In many traditions the time leading up to Ash Wednesday was a time for carnival, a time to celebrate before the austerity of Lent began. Mardi Gras or "Fat Tuesday" is just one expression of that carnival spirit.

Lent was also a time of preparation for new converts to the Christian faith. During this time they would be instructed in the faith in anticipation of their baptisms at the Vigil of Easter. The Sundays in the season of Lent are just that in the season not of the season. Each Sunday was seen as a respite from the more somber mood of the season. This was to reinforce the understanding that each Sunday is a little Easter in the lives of God's people. In our world today much of the meaning and appreciation of the Lenten season has been lost along with many of the other symbols and traditions that have long helped to inform the faithful.

Like the other seasons of the church year, the season of Lent is a reflection of the varied experiences of life in this world. Not every day of life is filled with celebration and rejoicing. There are times that are appropriate for thoughtfulness and introspection. Lent is such a time in the life of faith and becomes a recognizable contrast to the celebration of the festival of Easter and the Easter season that follows it. The area Men's Lenten breakfasts, the Wednesday evening worship experiences, and opportunities for involvement in Bible study as well as service are ways in which this season is lifted up in all of our lives. Some would see these offerings as interruptions to life, but perhaps we would be better served to see them as opportunities to reorient our lives, if only for a season, toward that which is of ultimate importance., our relationship with God and our relationships with our neighbors.

The traditional Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and giving for the sake of others in need could if exercised faithfully become disciplines for every season of the Christian life. All of God's children and all of God's creation would be better for it.