Sunday School that Works

Outside the Bible belt, Sunday School in its traditional form is a dying model. I hate to break the hearts of those of you who love it, but in my ventures in pastoring in the DC metro region, I’ve found in each setting I’ve worked in that the typical 9:30 am class– known as the place where church growth occurs from the traditional models– isn’t just all it used to be. 

In a fast paced city like DC, where long commutes define the weekly patterns of even the most faithful members, asking folks to give up another hour of their time on Sunday morning is usually too much to ask. They need sleep. They need family time.  They need to come to worship which in our case, doesn’t start until 11 am.

So, if you are really going to ask people to make the sacrifice to come earlier, it has to be worth their time without exception. 

At Washington Plaza we’ve tried a new venture for the past several months in an effort to expand our small group offerings and to interest folks in coming to church for spiritual study who might not fit into a traditional Bible Study class.

We’ve had growth in the area of young adults (the under 40ish crowd) in the past year, and knew we needed to offer something that would fit their interests and spiritual needs.  The class began last summer with some pretty standard topical curriculum and one or two faithful students, but not much more energy than this even though coffee and snacks were provided. (Food is great for drawing a crowd, you know, but not all that it takes).

Then, entered a non-traditional curriculum given to us by our sister church in DC called Modern Music and the Psalms. It was a lot of fun, especially to see the intergenerational class form and have weekly discussions about artists like Indigo Girls, Kayne West, the Beatles as compared to the Psalms.

The group had so much fun so that they wanted to keep going with this approach to study. The current class curriculum is something that Kevin and I are putting together each week called, Modern Movies and the Gospels. The first Sunday was an introduction to the gospels– what defines each, what the synoptic gospels are, and why studying the words of Jesus are important.

Then, each week following a fairly recently released film is selected. The class is asked to watch the film during the week (if they want), but if not, come ready to watch a selected clip of the Movie of the week in Sunday School. Discussion questions have been based on a theme presented in the film as it relates to a gospel lection that seems to work best.

So far, films such as Chocolat, The Lion King, Meet the Parents, Gran Tornio, among several others have been enjoyed with discussions ranging from topics such as “What is Prayer?” “Loving Those Who are Hard to Love” and “Enduring Friends.” I love hearing laughter and lively discussion coming each week from the classroom down the hall from my office as the group meets. This coming Sunday, the movie of choice is Saved . . . and I can’t wait to hear what the group says about this film!

The class is still debating what is next. Maybe Scripture and Poetry? Who knows? But, it is for certain that by thinking outside the norm just a little, folks do come and the community of study and friendship that is formed as a result is the best of what the church is about!

Love’s Hard Calling

On Friday, this post of mine about meeting an extraordinary family in Israel was published by the Associated Baptist Press. You can read it here.

I wanted to share a bit more about this family that I was not able to include in the article.

Not only did they lose one of their children in the conflict, but two.  And if this wasn’t bad enough, Mrs. Zaidan also lost her both her parents at a young age, her father when she was 12 years old and her mother three years later. She described a childhood that was bewildering at best. Additionally around the time that she lost her two sons, her sister died in an accident as well.

I remember as I heard this sweet couple speak I couldn’t help but think of Kate Campbell’s “How Much Can One Heart Hold?” for the grief this family had been asked to bear just seemed too much for words. Too much . . . really too much.

Yet, the ways this family has chosen to channel their grief for the good of others, I believe, has saved their lives. They’ve looked at some of life’s darkest moments in the face and said “We will remember” “We will tell our story” and “We will not let the past repeat itself.”

Miroslav Volf says in his book The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World the following about what happens when we don’t deal with grief, pain and loss as the Zaidans have done when he writes, “Victims will often become perpetrators precisely on account of their memories. It is because they remember past victimization that they justify as rightful self-protection what to most observers look like violence born of intolerance or even hatred.”

I’m so glad this world is full not only of victims who are repeating the past with no other options, but wonderful testimonies of courageous people like the Zaidans. They are truly living out love’s hard calling.

Meeting the Women at the Well

Characters Welcome: Lent 2011

The Samaritan Woman: John 4:5-42

Preached Sunday, March 27, 2011

The ancient story that you and I just heard read by Kirby, Bobby Jack and Whitney is one that probably seems familiar to most of us. For those of you for whom regular church attendance is not a new thing, I bet you could count on multiple fingers the numbers of times you’ve heard a sermon on this passage. For, it’s a story that we often like to go back to as a model of how in the way of Christ, Jesus changed everything—even hanging out with those unthinkable folks, the foreign women.

I can imagine how most of those sermons have gone, however. Most begin with a description of our character for this morning that is less than favorable. This unnamed female, known only by her country of origin, Samaria, is often cited as your typical wanton, reckless prostitute who has made a lot of bad choices in her life, but she meets Jesus during her walk of shame to the well in the middle of the day. Jesus calls her out on her sin when he tells her that she has had five husbands and the man she’s living with now is not her husband.  And, the miracle of the story, as many preachers would describe it, is that God saves even her—offering her living water (i.e. salvation) from Jacob’s Well.

Well known conservative preacher and author, John Piper said the following in a sermon about this woman, she’s “a worldly, sensually-minded, unspirited harlot from Samaria,” and goes on to later call her simply, “a whore.”[i]

And, to be critical of the life choices of the Samaritan Woman (though not with such mean spirited words) could be a reasonable approach to this text as I seek to bring you some good news from this passage.  It would be acceptable to many of your ears, even to for us to have a discussion about what it means to have a “shady past” with the Samaritan Woman to be leading our thoughts in this direction.

As has been my practice over the past two Sundays with our previous characters of “Mary, Mother of Jesus” and “Nicodemus,” I’ve sought to show you how each in their own right made some major errors in judgment—not too far off from some of the similar errors in judgment that you may have made—in hopes that we can all see how God longs for us to bring our WHOLE selves to him, faults and all, for we are loved and accepted for who we are.

But, must we see the Samaritan Woman as the poster child for immortality and bad decisions, or might we need to meet her again?

Sad, as it is that we don’t know a lot about the Samaritan woman, what we do know is that she was married five times. With this being the case, she was the definition of being an “outsider” and not “one of the girls.” Instead of coming to the well at the beginning of the day which weather patterns would suggest as the coolest and most convenient time of the day to fetch water, we read in verse six that when Jesus encountered the Samaritan Woman, it was noon, the hottest part of the day.

The thing is, that you and I know well is that sex, divorce and adultery sells and is remembered well over time. We tend to fixate on those among us who are perceived as having  “messed up” rather than those who are doing things “just as they should.”  Read any news headlines, watch any news magazine program, or see what is a trending topic on Facebook or Twitter and you will learn that it is natural human tendency for us to be mesmerized when we hear of a person whose has been a part of multiple marriages or relationships.  For example, why in the world would the media care so much about the death of Elizabeth Taylor this week – never mind her two academy awards and work for AIDS research—if she had not been married eight times to seven different men?

Yet, as David Lose wrote this week in his Huffington Post column, the Samaritan Woman “is not a prostitute. She doesn’t have a shady past. . . . There is nothing in the passage that makes this an obvious interpretation.”

Let’s take a closer look: nowhere in this passage do we hear Jesus speak of the woman’s need to repent of wrongdoing. In fact, contrary to popular belief, nowhere is the word sin mentioned at all.  Thus, we need to consider the fact that the woman Jesus meets at the well very possibly could be widowed, abandoned or divorced repeatedly. David Lose writes, “Five times would be heartbreaking, but not impossible.”

With all of this true, there are a couple of things to note.

First, women at this time were not allowed to divorce their husbands or even ask for it. To receive a divorce from a man was a decision that was left completely up to the man with the reason for the break-up almost always placed on the defect of the woman. 

Second, to be alone in this culture as a woman was a death sentence. For ages and ages long before the women’s revolution or the idea that a woman could do anything with or without a man, women during this time were not permitted to be out of relations from a husband or a male family member as their provider.  If alone, a woman’s only vocation was a life of begging—in hopes that someone would take pity on her for food and shelter.  For many taking on a new husband, was the only way out of homelessness.

Third, according to the Jewish law code found in Leviticus, when a woman was widowed or disowned by her husband for some reason and without a male child, she would be immediately marred to her deceased husband’s brother in order to produce an heir for herself. Yet, while living with her deceased husband’s brother, such a woman would not be considered his wife.

And, with all of this true, do you see where our rush to make the Samaritan woman story something that we can teach our children in Sunday School as a cut and dry tale of sin, judgment and acceptance by Jesus, has cost us the ability to see this woman for what she really is: a poor, oppressed one who has been dealt some of life’s most difficult circumstances?

It pains me to think about how history remembers her, believing that her isolation at the well that day all went back to “circumstances were ALL HER FAULT.”  The Samaritan woman had brought her “having five husbands” situation on herself. To say something like this sounds a lot to me like a domestic violence victim being blamed for her bruises. . . . So, how might we be called to see our failings as a people who continue to permit the same kind of injustice today?

Consider this just hitting the airwaves of CNN out of Libya yesterday morning: 

“Breakfast at a Tripoli hotel housing international journalists took a decidedly grim turn Saturday when a desperate Libyan woman burst into the building frantic to let the world know she had been raped and beaten by Moammar Gadhafi’s militia. Her face was heavily bruised. So were her legs. She displayed blood on her right inner thigh.

She said her name was Eman al-Obeidy  . . . She spoke in English and said she was from the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and had been picked up by Gadhafi’s men at a checkpoint east of Tripoli.

She sobbed and said she was held against her will for two days and raped by 15 men. She showed the journalists how she had been tied at her wrists and ankles. She had visible rope burns.”[ii]

Yet, as the camera crews videotaped her desperate attempt to tell the world her story of oppression, the national militia walked in, they crushed the cameras of the international journalists and claimed they were taking this woman to a hospital and not to believe a word she said for she was mentally ill. Her witness of what had happened to her was deemed uncredible with wait staff from the kitchen shouting “Traitor.”

Though the details of this woman’s story have a modern twist, the theme is still the same—the poor, the powerless, the outsiders of our society are not seen for what they really are: sometimes victims of situations of which they are powerless to control. In an effort to explain away the difference between our lives and theirs, the insiders of society, who get to write the history books and the holy books, often want to beat down the insight that such resourceful characters can offer us.

Yet, the power of the Samaritan Woman’s story is that Jesus’ presence beside her helps to lift up what is good, what is lovely and true about her being. It all begins with seeing her not as the labels that others have placed on her, but as herself, just her. Jesus talks to the woman, he asks her for a drink and recognizes in her, her plight of doing the best with situations life put before her and MOST certainly not a woman of poor moral character.

Consider this: in contrast to the character we met last week, Nicodemus, we find a faith seeker in this woman who is not afraid, as the disenfranchised often are, to speak openly about her questions before others . . . Nicodemus comes at night while we meet the Samaritan Woman during the day. And, while we are left at the end of Nicodemus’ story wondering what he ever made of his experience with Jesus, we know for sure when it comes to the Samaritan Woman for she quickly runs back into town that afternoon and boldly declares in verse 29: “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done.” And later in verse 39 we learn that “Many Samaritans from that city believed in [Jesus] because of the woman’s testimony.” The bottom line is that she bears witness to Jesus—because she had a heart open enough to receive it.

Grace found the woman at the well that day. Not because she needed it especially more than any other. Not because she’d done something right or especially wrong. Living water, or otherwise known as what could truly fill her soul, found her and then God used her faith to bless others with this same gift. Pastor Jon M. Walton writes, “In the encounter at the well, Jesus reshapes the memories of an alienated past into a future hope that one day all God’s people, ancestors and generations to come, will worship God in a re-imagined future, one in which the common thread is the Spirit and the Truth of God’s love expressed through Jesus Christ.”[iii]

Maybe just maybe, then, the call of this passage is not for the sexually loose among us to clean up our act and make better decisions in the way of following Christ (not that this is bad idea or anything), but for us who are among the educated, privileged and provided for of people of this world, to wake-up, see our status as people who have the power to prevent the stories of the Eman al-Obeidy  of this world. To be a voice of justice, women, men and children all around the world are forced to keep abuse, pain and despair silent, or have to become so desperate to publically share personal matters and to be labeled as mentally ill as a result.

Though you and I often think of Lent as a time of personal reflection—enduring a practice of self-denial so that we can become more God focused in our own being—might the calling also be to consider how our actions or lack of actions are contributing to more crying voices going unheard, more tragedies going unnoticed, and more political decisions being made on behalf of people whom we judge based on stereotypes?

Might we thank God for the witness of the Samaritan woman, her curious faithfulness, but also be sobered that women with stories like hers continue to abide all around us today?

Bishop Desund Tutu spoke of how we participate in injustice by simply doing nothing when he wrote: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

So, today let me be the voice of the mouse, and say to all of us, that the voiceless of this world don’t appreciate our neutrality.

What issues might the Spirit ask you to speak about to those in power in the halls of Congress? What letters do you new to write? What calls do you need to make?

What good work of breaking the bonds of injustices might the Spirit be asking you to contribute your financial resources to?

What prejudges have you left unchallenged that the Spirit might be asking you to accept no longer?

What unnamed victims might the Spirit ask you to encounter as Jesus did and actually see?

What marginalized person might the Spirit long to speak to you through so that, like those in the town of the Samaritan woman, you too might believe in what is life-giving?

Let the Samaritan woman, wrecked woman, no good woman, rumors be put to rest, and instead let us rise up and celebrate, no matter if we find ourselves in the shoes of Mother Mary, Nicodemus or Woman at the Well (with more to come), all of us characters are welcome in the family of Christ.  And, we are welcome because it is grace, simply grace that has brought us through this far and it is grace that will lead us all the way home.

Amen.

---

[i] John Piper, “God Seeks People to Worship Him in Spirit and Truth.” April 8, 1984. http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper84/040884.htm

[ii] International Headlines; http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/03/26/libya.beaten.woman/index.html?hpt=T2

[iii] Jon M. Walton “Preaching John 4:5-42” www.goodpreacher.com

I’m Smiling

Yesterday was one of those amazing days when I just sat back and felt with pride, “Those are my people and this is my wonderful church.”

Our Young Professionals group (but watch out new name is coming soon!) is growing both in number and spirit. From Sunday School in the morning, to worship, to lunch afterwards, to a spontaneous trip to a winery in Loudon County to a “breakfast for dinner” party in the evening, it was an action packed day of community building. And, there are already plans for more next month. (Thanks to John for snapping a picture of the small group that went to the winery).

One thing that I heard from members of the group was: “I like this church; you all are real people. Nobody seems to be pretending about  who they really are.”

As I see this group’s bonds of friendship forming both with each other and with the larger church population, I can’t help but think of my favorite theologian who writes about community, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He writes in his book, Life Together:

“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community.  He will only do harm to himself and to the community…But the reverse is also true: Let him who is not in community beware of being alone.  Only in the fellowship do we learn to be rightly alone and only in aloneness do we learn to live rightly in the fellowship.”

My hopes are as this group continues to grow in fellowship with one another, the time they spend together will not only be fun and inviting to newcomers, but it will be about growing in discipleship of Christ. Or as one group member said last night, “Let’s keep doing this. This is what church should be all about.”

Want to join the next event? Let me know and I’ll connect you with the coordinator.

Pastoral Public Service Announcement

So much of the work of pastors lies in the realms of life that are uncomfortable or hidden in plain sight of day-to-day life. On a weekly basis, conversations of mine with persons of all ages, deals with the more painful realities of topics such as grief, pain, loss and depression.  It’s a beautiful work to be a part of: to be invited into the lives of people not as they want others to perceive them but in authenticity.

As much as church is a community where we say all people are welcome– just as they are– it is often that we don’t know what to do with folks who are out of sorts a little: who are sad, who are anti-social, and who are struggling to make something of the broken pieces of their lives. For as much as we know how to throw parties for weddings, births and anniversaries, abiding with one another in some of life’s most heartbreaking losses is much more complicated. Out of fear of not knowing what to say, often our response is to do nothing. “I’ll just give ___ their space right now.” Or, we fill the void of discomfort with pleasantries about the weather.

Yet, what we don’t realize is that our ignorance of basic caring skills or inability to be vulnerable with our feelings of: ”I just don’t know what to do. I don’t want to say something wrong” can often be even more or as equally painful as the root cause of the problem for our friend or loved one.

Often, we isolate the sick, the suffering and the sad into small corners of our communal life often without even  knowing it. So by means of Pastoral Public Service Announcement (PPSA) consider these suggestions:  though not taken from medical or psychological expertise, of course, but from my pastoral heart to yours in hopes that we can find ways to support all persons in our webs of relationships, both in the good times and the bad.

1. If someone is depressed, don’t listen to them. If they say they don’t want to be visited, if they don’t want to be called, if they don’t call you back, keep trying. Folks going through depression want to know that someone notices them, cares about them and isn’t afraid to walk through the dark days of life with them. Keep showing up. Keep calling.  Eventually, they will let you in when they see that you REALLY care.

2. Don’t underestimate the value of your own pain story. Even if you are seeking to care for a person who is going through a situation that you don’t understand, pain is pain. If you’ve known what is it like to be the dark night of the soul (no matter the reason), you will recognize this in another and it will be a comfort to your friend to know that the sadness in them is not unknown to you.

3. Don’t say, “I understand” when you don’t.  But, do listen. Listen. And, listen some more. Often times, people in grief just need to be heard. Sometimes hearing a story completely through can be a gift to another greater than one will ever know.

4.  Spiritual language if not used appropriately can bring damage that lasts for years to come. Use such phrases as “God’s will” “God will make a way” “God only gives us only what we can handle” “It must not be God’s plan” or “He/ she is in a better place; God needed him/ her more” with caution. If you must use spiritual language, consider things like “I bet God is crying tears along with you right” or “Your community of faith loves you.”

5. When all else fails, just show up and be a presence. Simple tasks like doing the dishes or gathering the laundry or making such the children in the house have their homework done, are often tasks that the grieving don’t have energy or interest in. By doing things without being told to do them, it’s a risk, sure, but is often exactly what is the greatest ministry. By taking out the trash or bringing a meal, you are reminding the sad, that their humanity and its basic needs are still valued even as he or she struggles.

Any more suggestions to add?

Bottom line: let’s be better at being good to each other!

Saying Goodbye to Tom

Attending a funeral for someone you love is difficult for all of us. It something that most of us dread. Crying in public never seems to be anyone’s favorite thing . . .

But have you ever thought about what is like to be in the position of leading a funeral, especially someone in whom you knew well?

As a pastor, it is one of the most challenging yet rewarding experiences you can have in the course of your ministry. With your whole career being about building authentic relationships, there is a deep sadness in you when someone you have loved passes on.  During a funeral service, as much as you want to cry and grieve along with others, you know it is your job to be a beacon of strength, to provide the hope we know in the Christian faith, and to be a presence of compassion to the family.

Such is the opportunity and challenge I had last night. I led an informal service for my dear friend, Tom, a long-time member of the church I previously served in Gaithersburg, MD.

The following are some of the words that shared at the service. Even if you didn’t know Tom, my hope is that you would be encouraged by the legacy of this great man of faith. (The picture to the left is of me with Tom and is wife and some other of our friends at a lunch back in November of 2008 during my last days of service there).

When I first met Tom upon coming to be one of the associate pastors at his congregation in 2006, I quickly learned that Tom was not your ordinary guy. He often did things around the church and for his family that others really didn’t want to do. If his grandchildren needed anything, for example, even if it meant being silly with paint or dolls or food, Tom was in and he’d just say later, “Well, it was what Elizabeth wanted to do . . .” Or when I’d ask about the items in his van, he’d say that they were Lisa and Betty’s—left from a recent road trip somewhere. “Those two sure do know how to pack up a car,” he’d say.

At church, “for fun” on Tuesday or Wednesday afternoons, Tom would often stop by the church to do the work of ministry that few are interested in doing—namely, signing checks and checking up on the financial statements. And, frequently during one of his signing check visits, Tom would find his way into my office and share with me a joke or two. He would begin with something like . . . “I hope you aren’t too offended by my off color humor . . . “To which I wasn’t and we became quick friends.

Soon the two of us along with his lovely wife Betty Jo were planning special events together for the “seniors” of the church. Organizing lunches, gathering and even a “field trip” one afternoon to the Jarvis’ in Gettysburg that included Tom and I picking up a rental van—which was always an adventurous pre- outing in itself. I thought the rental place was never going to let the two of us out of the parking lot with that van.

In all of these things, the spirit of Tom was always about service. It was about community and being the “glue” that kept good people on the right track doing good things. He was person who held together many things at his home, kept stressed out pastors sane at church and kept together networks of relationships from within the community with the help of his lovely wife.

Tom was the kind of guy that you could call on at the last minute if you needed something because you know he’d be there. No questions asked.

One of my most favorite memories of time that Tom and I got to spend together was in the wee hours of the morning when he had volunteered to drive me to Dulles airport so I could go to my wedding in Georgia back in October of 2007. We talked about various things over the course of that longer traffic filled morning. But, most moving of them all was his encouragement to me. He told me after spending a couple of minutes critiquing my speech patterns in my most recent sermon: “You’ve got a talent for this pastor thing. I think you should just keep doing what you are doing and God is going to bless you richly.”

While Tom was not big or flashy about his words, and never really wanted to be the center of attention about anything, he brought gifts of authenticity, love and support to those surrounding him. Since I became the pastor of Washington Plaza in 2009, Tom checked up on me from time to-time. He asked frequently if folks there were being nice to me. If not, he said, he’d gladly come over and agitate things a little. I’m going to miss this open invitation offer of his . . .

Like the Apostle Paul, I know many of us will have many occasions to thank God for Tom’s memory. There is so much we will miss about him not being with us anymore here on earth.

In all of these things, Tom knew that ultimately relationships were most important—both to God and to one another. He knew that doing what he could to encourage, motivate and bring people together was essential to the Christian life. He knew it was his responsibility to care for his family. Like the rest of us, Tom made his share of mistakes, but he wasn’t one to let his mistakes keep him down or his cancer in the last months of his life, willingly getting out to come to church even if it meant coming with an oxygen tank. 

When you and I die, only one thing matters: not how much money we have, not how many flowers decorate the alter, not how many people attend, not how many groups or societies we belonged to—only one thing, as it was with Tom last Friday—is it well with our souls? Are our lives in harmony with God?  Are our lives being used for the good of building bonds in Christian community or are they centered only on ourselves? The Bible says: what will profit a man or woman if he or she gains the whole world and loses their own soul?

It’s not easy to think about such hard questions as Tom did—even Jesus didn’t say it was easy. But Jesus did say in the tough times, he would be with us always, he would never leave us.

Prayer for Japan

Oh, God of earth, Oh God of heaven.

Why?

Why must your people suffer?

Why must homes and lands and cars be thrown into the sea?

Why must dreams to be washed away?

Why must promises of security be destroyed?

Why must children live in fear of what is next?

Why must calm waters soothe one day and devastating storms mock the next?

Why?

In moments like these, we sit in awe of the brokeness of what it means to be a citizen of this world.

We wait in silence. We stick close to each other.

We share our funds. We give the concern of our hearts, hoping these things travel the miles that we can not.

We hope that this sad chapter for those left behind is met with the deep comfort of loving community.

We hope that people of faith will find ways to bring light into cities of darkness.

We hope that race, religion or creed does not hinder the good work of compassion that You set before us to do together.

We hope that even in death, there might be life.

We ask that even as You, O God, feel so far away right now that Your presence might be near: may this fact be enough. Enough for our sisters and brothers to be sustained breath by breath from this moment to the next.

AMEN

40 Days

Two days and counting until LENT begins . . .  

In a nutshell, Lent is a time of preparation, of meditation, of reflection before Holy Week begins. It’s a time in commemoration of Jesus’ forty days in the desert of temptation and re-gaining his focus before his ministry began.  It’s a time when we choose as followers of Jesus, to set a part some time to worship a little more intentionally, to pray a little more thoughtfully, and organize the patterns of our lives a little more faithfully so to re-center our lives with things that really matter. It’s a time of the year when many Christians begin some sort of fasting ritual whether it be with food, worry or a physical activity.  

Our Ash Wednesday service at 7pm will begin the 40 days of waiting until the joys of Easter are upon us. 

Though most Baptists (especially the southern ones) aren’t always known for their observation of Lent (saying that it is too “Catholic”), Washington Plaza Baptist seeks to find its home in the larger mainline tradition of solemn worship and prayerful discipline which Lent offers. It is encouraged that we all find something either give up or take on.

On Sunday at church, I overheard several conversations about upcoming Lenten disciplines.  Issues emerged such as “What can I give up for Lent that I can live without for 40 days?” or “What’s the big deal about giving up something like chocolate, soda or Facebook because after the 40 days you just go back to it?” or “I just don’t understand Lent. It is nothing I’ve ever celebrated before.”

I understand such sentiments because it wasn’t until less than 10 years ago that I had ever heard of Lent either. Lent to me as a child was that stuff that comes out of the dryer . . .

But, over the past several years, I’ve grown to love Lent because I recognize how much my life needs the discipline. While giving up soda or alcohol or adding more time for reading or exercise or prayer sounds like a small thing of little value, I’ve grown to understand that it is important to that allusive word we call balance. For in the practice of Lent, as we partake of it together in community, we receive God’s gift of  mindfulness.

By giving up something impulsive to us or adding something we despise but is good for us, we begin to see questions like:  ”To whom or what am I most loyal?” “What impulses in me are greater than for love of God alone?” “What structures have I built around my life to support me that are constructed on false pretences?”

So, today, I’m thinking more about what my Lent discipline this year might be and encourage you to do the same. (Wednesday will be here soon!)

If you are having trouble thinking of something . . . might you consider coming to our spiritual formation class on Wednesday nights at 7 pm (or immediately following the worship service this week) on the topic of Spiritual Stories? Email me for more information. . .

I promise you, the joys of Easter will be greater if make the commitment this year to fully be present in the preperation in advance called Lent.