Lent 2016 - it is not about banning chocolate

When we think of Lent people often think about what they will give up! This is only part of the story!

Lent is a season of reflection, self-examination, and preparation. Properly understood, Lent is not a disciplined obligation we observe out of duty. I like to think of Lent as a yearly second chance. Each year the Church gives us forty days to take a long, loving look at our lives to see if our values and priorities are in line with what God wants for us. And when we do this most of us will find that we have wandered from God’s path. Lent thus becomes that second chance to “return to God with our whole heart.” It is an opportunity for us to take intentional steps towards a deeper and more satisfactory life with God. Lent reawakens us to a reality that we are often tempted to forget. We embrace the season of Lent because we desire an increased awareness of God’s presence in our everyday lives and a greater appreciation of all God has done for us. 

Now that sounds much more important than not eating chocolate for six weeks!

This year my lent discipline is to write a thought each day on my blog.

Image courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Lent day 1 - Ash Wednesday 2016 RIP Stephen Brown

"Remember you are dust and to dust you will return."

This morning the sky is a clear blue and there are no clouds to be seen. The sun is shining. The frost is melting off the grass as the sun hits it. We have had such a wet and dismal winter that today seems a new start! So today I stood outside gazing upwards, thankful to be alive, thankful for all that God has given.
The Ash Wednesday prayer said during the ashing ceremony about returning to dust has a particular poignancy this week as a friend died suddenly and unexpectedly. Ash Wednesday is the day the church reminds us that we’re mortal and that someday we’re all going to die. We remember death as a way to affirm life. Meditating on mortality helps me to live more fully in the present.  
The Revd Stephen Brown and I studied together at Luther King House in the 1980s and sat together in some BD classes at Manchester University. Though we did not see each other for over 20 years, we re-connected about five years ago. Stephen was only 58 and married with two adult children. He was a creative, talented, spirit filled person who gave much joy and hope to all he met. He was also a brilliant musician, composer and hymn writer. His family, friends and congregation at Helensburgh United Reformed Church are all in a state of shock.
So in the warm spring sunshine of Ash Wednesday I meditated on life and death as I remembered Stephen and prayed for his family.  


This year my lent discipline is to write a thought each day on my blog.

Prayer used to introduce a nativity play

Today we praise you father God

in words and in music

and through the creative retelling of

the old familiar Christmas story.

This is a story we have heard from childhood

a story that has become part of us through repetition

It is a very familiar story

yet still we find we wonder and praise God

at the immensity of the story behind the tales of shepherds, angels and kings.

It is the story of the mighty God, the creator of heaven and earth

coming to earth in unbelievable vulnerability

as a baby

born in an insanitary and dangerous place and time

in a borrowed cowshed

where danger lurked in the shadows cast by Herod and Rome.

And as we ponder on this amazing initiative by God

we realise that this is always the way that God works:

coming in seeming weakness

speaking through the small and vulnerable.

God's way is a path that is often difficult for us to follow

for it goes against the accepted ways of the world:

The path following Jesus brings great reward 

but does not promise an easy journey.

(written by me  December 2015)

Image courtesy of seksuwat / FreeDigitalPhotos.net