Ash Wednesday will be celebrated on February 10 at both 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Ascension. You are invited to gather with your brothers and sisters to worship God and be reminded that God cares about your whole life.
In Lent, we hear God’s promises in new ways…that EVERY end is a beginning; that EVERY night gives way to morning; that EVERY hurt can be healed; that EVERY broken moment can be redeemed; that EVERY life lost can be found; that EVERY cross carried can be given to Jesus; that EVERY prayer spoken is heard.
In my life, Lent is the ground on which I walk the journey of my faith. Sometimes the ground is hard and packed down. In other areas, the ground is dry and cracked. Still other roads are muddy and hard to navigate. And then in the season of Lent, I am blessed – as are you blessed – with soft and fertile ground ready and waiting for the new thing God promises to do in each of our lives…should we choose to be open to what God will do in us and through us. Will you choose to walk the road of Lent? Will you let your journey of faith lead you in a new direction at God’s invitation? The invitation has been made…God waits for each of us…will you come?
I wrote those words last year to share the wonder of God’s promise to be with us. The words were important enough to share with you again as the season of Lent arrives with Ash Wednesday.
After the four weeks of Advent that lead us to Christmas, the 40 days that make up the season of Lent, leading us to Easter, provide the most powerful witness to the events of Holy Week that call us to an empty tomb on Easter morning. God provides everything we need on our journey. You only need to hear God’s call and follow. I know that sounds easier than it is. Our journeys of faith are so often complicated by schedules, careers, children, parents, spouses, weather, and those life circumstances beyond our control. It is true. And then, it is not true.
Our individual journeys of faith are of God’s design. Not one of us travels the same road and yet our journeys provide moments of awareness of the other. I am reminded of the words of the song:
Will you let me be your servant? Let me be as Christ to you? Pray that I might have the grace to let you be my servant, too. We are pilgrims on a journey, we are trav’lers on the road. We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.
Lent is our opportunity to travel the road together to help each other walk the mile and bear the load. You are invited to join us on this journey through Lent. Come and see the new thing God is doing. Peace be with you.
(This post was originally published in Ascension’s February 2016 newsletter).
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