MARCH/APRIL 2024
Beloved in Christ;
The child stands before the parent. “It’s broken! Can you fix it,
please?”
Lent is just such a time when we stand before our heavenly parent with
all trust in our heart:
“Our lives are broken; can you fix it?”
Lent is a time to consider how we might deny and open ourselves to
drawing closer to God.
Refraining from the things that would serve ourselves, and turning to
things that would serve God. What might
I place in God’s hands to be transformed & made new?
What might we fast
or refrain from, that may be an obstacle in our relationship with God?
What might we give
(to God or those in need) as an act of faith in, and dependence on God, thus
diminishing my temptation to trust in the things in our life?
How might we trust more regularly on God through increased prayer,
diminishing our temptation to trust in our own understanding?
“It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”
(Prayer of St. Francis)
There’s something about intentionally letting go of control to God that
leads to healing & new living.
Mary Magdalene and Mary are going to the tomb at
dawn. The
stone hasn’t been moved yet. Then suddenly,
an earthquake, an
angel of the Lord, with an appearance like lightning, and dazzling white
clothes, descends & rolls back the stone. Earthquakes, angels, quite
terrifying for a morning stroll through the cemetery. Earthquakes
come, rock our world, and change things. Like the women and guards, fear
is a common reaction.
Imagine you’re inside your chrysalis, convinced you
are the same worm you have always been, unaware of forces within that have been
transforming you. Cracks appear in your darkened world; you try to hold it
together. You try to mend the cracks, but it keeps getting worse, and it feels
like everything is falling apart. But really things are coming together beyond
your wildest imagination!
Then a catastrophic event, “It’s all over!” you cry. And the next
thing you know,
you have beautiful wings & you can fly! You’ve been transformed, and it was
all grace.
Jesus tells us the struggles and sufferings of this
life are like birth pangs, teaching us that spending our time clinging to
riches and the fame of this world is like decorating the inside of the chrysalis. The earthquakes come, taunting us with fear,
telling us it’s
all over.
Does it ever feel like, try as you may, you just can’t control it all,
your world is falling apart, and your time has come? Come and practice trust
- the Holy Spirit is making us new.
Jesus said, “Unless a seed falls into the
ground & dies it cannot bear fruit…”
Lent invites us again to let go, and trust God with all our heart.
The surrender of lent leads to the unimaginable mysterious promised
resurrection life.
The earthquakes come, but our God turns death into
life.
We simply proclaim in our living “The
end is not the end”;
death has been overcome,
God keeps His promises, and that truth can’t help
but change how we live.
In the abiding hope of the empty tomb,
Pastor Curt
