From the Pastor
It was C.S. Lewis who said, “We might think that God wants obedience to a set of rules, whereas what God really wants is people of a particular sort.” Lent comes as an opportunity to ask ourselves, “Are we the sort of people God wants?” Lent comes as an opportunity to listen to our lives – to listen for those areas of our lives where we are, in the words of Ann Weems, “blatantly unliving”, and to listen for how we can abundantly live again.
I regret that over the years Lent has been turned into yet another set of rules, into a time for giving up pleasures and for long, sad faces. It is a time for serous reflection to be sure, but not a time to play the “I’m more miserable that you” game. I like to think of the 40 days of Lent as an opportunity to ask, not “how am I making a living,” but rather “how am I making a life?” What are my priorities, what gives me joy, what gives God joy in me?
I don’t know about you, but so often it seems that I am working against myself. In the midst of conflicting claims and responsibilities, I seem to have trouble clarifying what really matters most to me, what gives me energy and joy and meaning. There are so many voices telling me who and what I should be. And so for me, this Lenten season comes as a welcome time for re-clarification, re-focus and re-dedication. And so may it be for you…a time for you to think about the kind of person you would like to become, what you are fashioning in your soul, the values you cherish, the reach of your mind, the way you touch the lives of others. Yes, let us take this Lenten opportunity to listen to our lives.
Gene
