Lent is quickly approaching. We continue to follow the COVID-19 pandemic guidelines and protocols to keep one another safe. Vaccines are rolling out. Outside it is cold, snowy, and blustery. On a moonlit and windy night the bare trees are silhouettes swaying in the darkness. There is much beauty during this time of the year.
Now, even in the cold of February it is time to prepare for the journey of Lent. A journey that is not easy. A journey that leads to the Cross. A journey that begins with Ash Wednesday. This year, although our services will be adjusted to keep one another safe, we need to remind each other that Lent is a time of self-reflection, fasting, prayer, confession, and repentance.
I share a meditation that I found many years ago. Each year I pull out this meditation and sit with it for a while, asking God to change my heart and to transform my life as I and I hope you, will continue your faith journey as a disciple of Jesus.
Smudges on the Soul: A Meditation for Ash Wednesday (First printed in the 2007 Upper Room Disciplines and used with permission.)
Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.
-- Joel 2:12-13, NRSV
“I would rather wear the smudge on my forehead than to admit its residence upon my soul. I prefer a crude cross above my eyes to questions about runny mascara and smudged liner. In a place where self-confidence is rewarded and any sign of weakness or emotional predisposition is held suspect, it is difficult to consider actually following the advice of the prophet to return to the Lord with fasting, with weeping and with mourning. It is, however, acceptable — maybe even fashionable to appear in public with a dirty forehead as a sign that I have religion. It is amazing how the symbols of piety, sackcloth and ashes, have been transformed into a mask that hides me from myself and circumvents the intent of Ash Wednesday.
Blow the trumpet in Zion, the prophet said. Not the trumpet that signals advance to war, or the trumpet that celebrates victory, but the one that warns trembling penitents that the day of the Lord is coming. Blow the trumpet that warns a penitent like me to wear the smudge of ashes long after her face has been washed and to admit the smudge on the one place that matters to God, her heart.
Blow the trumpet in Zion, the prophet said, and sanctify a fast (Joel 2:15). Hear the sounds of grumbling need in a world where few are filled — and where we are overfilled. Today I am called to push away from the voracious consumption of everything in my path, for at least a little while, in hopes that I might realize something about the equitable distribution of the world's resources before the fast is over.
Rend your hearts and not your garments, the prophet said (Joel 2:13). The gift of the day is personal reflection, a season of confession, and change. Start the arduous journey from shadow to substance, from ritual to reality, from façade to faith. Today, choose the harder course. It is easier to buy new clothing than to mend a soul."
Prayer: Lord, as I begin this year's Lenten Journey, turn my attention to the things that matter most to you. Amen.”
As we journey through Lent 2021, let us pray together over the next 40 days:
Ash Wednesday Prayer (UMH #353)
“O God, maker of every thing and judge of all that you have made, from the dust of the earth you have formed us and from the dust of death you would raise us up. By the redemptive power of the cross, create in us clean hearts and put within us a new spirit, that we may repent of our sins and lead lives worthy of your calling; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Reflect on Sunday’s Palms Are Wednesday’s Ashes (Faith We Sing #2138 by Rae E. Whitney)
Verse 1: Sunday’s palms are Wednesday’s ashes as another Lent begins;
Thus we kneel before our Maker in contrition for our sins.
We have marred baptismal pledges, in rebellion gone astray;
Now, returning, seek forgiveness, grant us pardon, God, this day!
Verse 2: We have failed to love our neighbors, their offences to forgive;
Have not listened to their troubles, nor have cared just how they live.
We are jealous, proud, impatient, loving over much our things;
May the yielding of our failing be our Lenten offerings.
Verse 3: We are hasty to judge others, blind to proof of human need;
And our lack of understanding demonstrates our inner greed.
We have wasted earth’s resources; want and suffering we’ve ignored;
Come and cleanse us, then restore us; make new hearts within us Lord!
May our resilience in sharing the love of God continue. May our relationships grow stronger and deeper with God and with one another. May our repentance and rending of our hearts transform us as disciples of Jesus Christ. May the renewing of our daily lives be guided by the Holy Spirit.
Journeying Through Lent Together,
Suzanne
