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From Rev. Brock Patterson
“BIG Not Required”
Aha! Busted! The Season of Lent has begun and I haven’t done what I planned. But since nobody knows, it ain’t no big deal. I can still pretend I’m doing something HUGE for Lent and everybody will think I’m following my own rules.
Oops. Did I just write that so everyone can see it? No worries, I can always come back and delete it before the Chapeline is published.
All this Lent stuff can get confusing, especially for those who don’t have any experience with it. The best way to describe it is like this: Between now and Easter (March 31, 2024), do something for God because God did something BIG for us. Since we can’t repay God equally, we can instead make commitments or sacrifices to honor God.
Some folks make a commitment for the entire time, such as one person I know who is brave enough to give up tobacco this year. Kudos to that guy, for sure. Others of us might pledge to pray more, read the Bible every day, give up sweets, or refrain from eating meat on Fridays, among lots of other things.
At the Chapel, I’ve rigged it so that we don’t have to give up something BIG. Instead, we can participate by doing something different each day. Each day is a different Challenge, and in the morning a devotion is published to accompany the Challenge. This year, if participants are successful in completing their daily challenges for the week, we will add a light to the Lenten Tree in the Chapel Sanctuary. If you're tackling a BIG one, each week you complete is worthy of a light on the tree, so let us know!
Would you like to try this Lent? Jump in and start today! At the end of the week, if you’ve completed the Daily Challenges or you are successful in your BIG one, let us know by dropping a green Lenten Card in the offering plate on Sunday morning. Or, if you aren’t on the island, send us an email (Susan@longboatislandchapel.org) and let us know that you (and your peeps, if you can guilt them into this) have completed the challenges. We’ll hang a light on the tree this week to reflect your efforts.
This year’s theme, “I Am Light”, is to help us recognize that we can be a light in this world. One light on a big tree is visible, reflecting the efforts of one person’s efforts for the week But, when lots of us are making the effort, we can truly help bring light and life into a world that can sometimes seem dark and lifeless.
BIG is not required to participate in Lent. If you can do something BIG, by all means, do it and begin now. If you want to do lots of smaller things each day, please join us! If you’re not quite sure if you want to do anything, at least take a look at the Daily Devotions and Challenges and see if any of them speak to you. Especially if this is brand new to you, I’ll think you’ll be surprised how quickly God can move.
Get the Challenges and Devotions (and Devotion calendar) in the following places:
By Email – If you’re not receiving it, send me an email and I’ll add you to the list: (revbrock@longboatislandchapel.org).
By Facebook – Posted every day here: https://www.facebook.com/longboatislandchapel
By Website – Posted every day here: https://longboatislandchapel.org/daily-lenten-devotions/
By Blog – Posted every day here: https://www.brockpatterson.com/
I hope to see you this week at the chapel, either online or in person!
God Bless, Brock.
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