Rev Sherry Osborn
Lenten spiritual practices! How will you make a “Holy Lent”? Lent is an invitation to practice, in a new way, the adoration of God, neighbor and planet.
We do so by prayerfully clothing ourselves in the all inclusive love, forgiveness and mercy of God in preparation for what Barbara Brown Taylor defines as “Forty days to cleanse the system and open the eyes to what remains when all comfort is gone. Forty days to remember what it is like to live by the grace of God alone and not by what we can supply ourselves.” You alone can choose to accept this invitation.
We often talk about what to “give up” for Lent and I certainly know in my past, this has typically meant for 40 days only. That’s it. Then I go back to eating or doing or not doing whatever it is that I’ve given up. Perhaps instead of “giving up” something we might consider “letting go.”
While Jesus travelled into the wilderness, he responded to Satan’s temptations not by giving up as much as letting go. He let go of the “lure of power and control,” as one author puts it. He let go of the fear that he would be deprived. Jesus let go of comfort and faced significant challenges. Only in letting go did Jesus then have room to receive God’s grace and guidance. By letting go, Jesus had room to grow into his new ministry.
As a beginner potter, I was constantly reminded to loosen my grip around the clay as I slowly pulled it up from the spinning wheel. Whenever I tried to control the clay versus work with it patiently, the whole thing turned into a wet mass of flop! So this Lent, won’t you join me in a prayer for God’s help in letting go, to be open and unattached so that God can do God’s always unexpected work for us, within us and through us. No doubt we’ll flop around a bit. By God’s abiding grace, we pick up and try, try again.
This is a Lenten discipline I hope to nurture not only for 40 days but also well beyond Lent. That is the hope of Easter. When God breaks through and fills the space we make for New Life, Love Divine. Easter happens…over and over again. God is always with us, in the wilderness and everywhere in between.
Let go and Live!
Faithfully with Love,
Sherry
Interim Pastor
Holy Week and Easter Services:
Palm Sunday, April 5: 8:00 &10:00 am
Maundy Thursday, April 9: 7:00 pm with foot washing and stripping of altar
Good Friday, April 10: 7:00 pm
Easter Sunday, April 12: 8:00 & 10:00 am