Lent cont. on page 9 March 2017 March 2017 March 2017 March 2017 Let’s face it. Lent is in trouble. Let me explain. Most of us have favorite holiday seasons. For some it’s Christmas, with the family get-togethers and presents. For others it’s the Fourth of July and summer, filled by a sense of national pride and beach vacations to boot. But each year at just about this time, it strikes me that very few of us would pick Lent, a sea- son that seems to most of us as grim as the weather that usu- ally attends it. Think about it: crossing off days on the calendar until Ash Wednesday; leaving work just a little early, saying “I’ve got to get my Lenten shopping done;” advertisements on billboards and television reading “only 12 more days ‘til the day of Ashes;” or little kids going to bed, asking their parents, “How much longer ‘till Lent is here?” It just doesn’t happen. The trouble with Lent, I think, is fairly clear. It’s buried right in the heart of the primary reading for Ash Wednesday, from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6: “And when you fast… Actually, you don’t have to read the whole verse, as the brunt of the problem of Lent is in the first four words, “And when you fast....” And when you fast?! C’mon. Except for the occa- sional crash diet before summer vacation, who fasts anymore? And there it is in a nutshell! The trouble with Lent is that it feels like this strange, weirdly outdated holiday that cele- brates things we don’t value and encourages attitudes we don’t share. Maybe it’s too old-fashioned or too medieval for many contemporary people to handle. So, let’s face it. Lent is in trouble. Rarely is there the same kind of enthusiasm or expectancy which greets Advent. Notice we don’t sponsor Lenten Adventures for our kids; we don’t have an Adult Lenten Dinner and Party. We don’t yearn to sing Lenten hymns ahead of time. Lent is in trouble. I don’t know. Maybe it’s that there are no presents at the end, Is Lent in Trouble? and no fun and games along the way. Or, maybe it’s that Lent asks us to give up things. Haven’t we had to sacrifice enough already to get our kids through college, to save for retire- ment, to put a new roof on the house? Why should we give up anything more for Lent? Or, maybe it’s the themes of Lent that trouble us. Penitence. Sacrifice. Contemplation. These are the words of Lent, and I, for one, have a hard time believing they were popular even with the Puritans let alone now! Who really needs Lent, anyway? But, no matter how I think of it. No matter how I feel about it. I keep coming back to the same answer. Who needs Lent? I do. I need Lent. I need a time to focus, to get my mind off of my career, my social life, my next project, and a hundred other things to which I look for meaning, and, center myself in Meaning itself. I need a time to help clear my head of the distractions and re-orient myself towards the Maker of all that has given me life and everything in it. I need the opportunity to clear my eyes of the glaze of indifference and apathy which comes from situation after situation where I feel nearly helpless so that I can fasten my eyes once more on the almost unbear- able revelation of the God who loves us enough to take the form of a man hanging on a tree. When I sit and pray about it, I realize that Lent really isn’t mine to do with whatever I please. Lent isn’t even the Church’s to insist upon or discard at will. Lent isn’t any of ours to scoff at or observe. Lent is God’s. Lent is God’s gift to us – a people starved for meaning, for courage, for comfort, for life. If we can imagine that Lent is not ours at all but is wholly God’s, then maybe we’ll also begin to recall that we, too, are New Service Time: Beginning Sunday, March 5, we will move to one service at 10:00am! Page 2 Reports: Vestry Page 6 Announcements continued/Recent Events Page 3 Reports: Vestry financials Page 7 Registration form for Spring Luncheon Page 4 Reports continued: Outreach/ Christian Ed. Page 7 Ministry Schedule Page 5 Christian Ed. Continued/Announcements Page 9 Continued articles from pages 1 and 2
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Lent cont. on page 9
March 2017March 2017March 2017March 2017
Let’s face it. Lent is in trouble.
Let me explain. Most of us have favorite
holiday seasons. For some it’s Christmas,
with the family get-togethers and presents. For others it’s the
Fourth of July and summer, filled by a sense of national pride
and beach vacations to boot. But each year at just about this
time, it strikes me that very few of us would pick Lent, a sea-
son that seems to most of us as grim as the weather that usu-
ally attends it.
Think about it: crossing off days on the calendar until Ash
Wednesday; leaving work just a little early, saying “I’ve got to
get my Lenten shopping done;” advertisements on billboards
and television reading “only 12 more days ‘til the day of
Ashes;” or little kids going to bed, asking their parents, “How
much longer ‘till Lent is here?” It just doesn’t happen.
The trouble with Lent, I think, is fairly clear. It’s buried right in
the heart of the primary reading for Ash Wednesday, from the
Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6: “And when you fast…
Actually, you don’t have to read the whole verse, as the brunt
of the problem of Lent is in the first four words, “And when
you fast....” And when you fast?! C’mon. Except for the occa-
sional crash diet before summer vacation, who fasts anymore?
And there it is in a nutshell! The trouble with Lent is that it
feels like this strange, weirdly outdated holiday that cele-
brates things we don’t value and encourages attitudes we
don’t share. Maybe it’s too old-fashioned or too medieval for
many contemporary people to handle.
So, let’s face it. Lent is in trouble. Rarely is there the same kind
of enthusiasm or expectancy which greets Advent. Notice we
don’t sponsor Lenten Adventures for our kids; we don’t have
an Adult Lenten Dinner and Party. We don’t yearn to sing
Lenten hymns ahead of time. Lent is in trouble.
I don’t know. Maybe it’s that there are no presents at the end,
Is Lent in Trouble?
and no fun and games along the way. Or, maybe it’s that Lent
asks us to give up things. Haven’t we had to sacrifice enough
already to get our kids through college, to save for retire-
ment, to put a new roof on the house? Why should we give
up anything more for Lent?
Or, maybe it’s the themes of Lent that trouble us. Penitence.
Sacrifice. Contemplation. These are the words of Lent, and I,
for one, have a hard time believing they were popular even
with the Puritans let alone now!
Who really needs Lent, anyway?
But, no matter how I think of it. No matter how I feel about
it. I keep coming back to the same answer. Who needs Lent?
I do. I need Lent. I need a time to focus, to get my mind off of
my career, my social life, my next project, and a hundred
other things to which I look for meaning, and, center myself
in Meaning itself.
I need a time to help clear my head of the distractions and
re-orient myself towards the Maker of all that has given me
life and everything in it. I need the opportunity to clear my
eyes of the glaze of indifference and apathy which comes
from situation after situation where I feel nearly helpless so
that I can fasten my eyes once more on the almost unbear-
able revelation of the God who loves us enough to take the
form of a man hanging on a tree.
When I sit and pray about it, I realize that Lent really isn’t
mine to do with whatever I please. Lent isn’t even the
Church’s to insist upon or discard at will. Lent isn’t any of
ours to scoff at or observe. Lent is God’s. Lent is God’s gift to
us – a people starved for meaning, for courage, for comfort,
for life.
If we can imagine that Lent is not ours at all but is wholly
God’s, then maybe we’ll also begin to recall that we, too, are
New Service Time: Beginning Sunday, March 5, we will move to one service at 10:00am!