Dear friends,

The holy season of Lent is upon us … and this is a GOOD thing!

Yes, Lent is a season of penitence. It is a time for sober reflection on the way we live our lives.  It is a time often marked with fasting – that is ‘giving up something’ – to help us draw nearer to God and to each other. Lent is a time to be especially attentive to our spiritual life through prayer and reading scripture. 

And, it is a time when we strive to be more generous with our time, talent and treasure.

So often the Lenten disciplines feel more like punishment than practices that bring life. So often it feels more like we focus on our guilt rather than on God’s GRACE.

This Lent, I invite you to enter this holy season with an open heart and an open mind on the lookout for wherever God’s grace seems to touch your life. Be intentional about taking time each day to focus on God’s goodness.

Each Sunday of Lent we will begin our worship service in reflective silence, receiving the silence as a gift to turn off the things that distract us from God and to become more and more aware of God’s presence. Our worship will begin with the Penitential Rite, which is an extension of the Collect for Purity normally offered each Sunday, and which includes a Declaration of Forgiveness. 

This is the movement from ‘guilt’ to ‘grace’. You will also note that the service will have more silence than usual. Savor the quiet and connect with the unhurried graciousness of God’s time.

May this holy Lenten time, be a good and sacred time between you and the Holy One.

Shalom,
Susan+