Meanderings around Lent
Greetings to you all as we near the end of winter, begin the season of sugaring here in Vermont, and the Season of Lent in churches around the world. Each season has its own flavor - no pun intended, for those of you who know and love the flavor of newly made maple syrup! The “flavor" of Lent is one of prayer, study, reflection and preparation for the celebration of Easter and the new life that comes to us in the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
You might be wondering how we can even think of the word “celebration” in light of the events of our past several weeks: the shootings in Arizona, kidnappings and killings by seafaring pirates near Somalia, the bloody suppressing of the uprising in Libya by Colonel Qaddafi, and the struggles for freedom of other peoples, some successful as in Egypt, some not so much. Add to that the earthquake centered in Christchurch, New Zealand, and we have to wonder how people ever survive, much less thrive and celebrate, in the midst of such suffering. It is an age-old question, raised each time some new catastrophe strikes somewhere in our world. Perhaps, in light of this, entering this Season of Lent is a timely thing. Prayer – study – reflection – preparation – as we try to confront the suffering in the world around us.
I ran across a new website this week, quite by accident. Someone had posted a pencil drawing on an email I received. It led me to a site at www.zetousa.com, put together by a man named Tom Anson who lives in Lincoln, NE. If you visit his site (and I would encourage you to visit his site), you will learn that he is seeking authenticity in Christian life as it is found – or not found- in the church. He writes of his journey:
“…. every church we've seen effectually quenches the Spirit. Everything is sacrificed to the need to perpetuate the programming. That system always seems to swallow up good, sincere people; it looks — and acts — more like the world than the Lord, and never seems to produce mature believers who can function together without the presence of the pastor. Its members never seem to have the substance of faith in their own hearts, always living vicariously through a religious professional.”
I wish Tom lived a little closer to West Danville because he might discover that you all function together quite well without the presence of a pastor and have done so numerous times in your history.
Anyway – back to discovering Tom and his work on the web. On his site he has a number of pencil drawings with scriptural verses on them (they are for sale). He has given me permission to share one with you. It is called “Inscribed” and has on the bottom of it this verse from Isaiah 49:15 - "Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands … I will not forget you."
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| Tom Anson Zetousa.com |
What a stark reminder of the Christian’s cause for celebration. Eugene H. Peterson translates the very familiar passage from John 3:16-17 this way:
“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need to be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it is. He came to help, to put the world right again.” [The Message]
And that is why, in a world of suffering, we can celebrate. Because God loves us THAT MUCH! So let’s really CELEBRATE during this Season called Lent, Let’s prepare through prayer, study and reflection, and especially through sharing this God News with the people around us as we reach out to a hurting world and people in need of knowing more about God-Who-is-Love and loves us. We truly are inscribed on the palms of His hands . . . and He will not forget us!
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