The Mainline Minister

It's 5:10 as I write this (admittedly late) daily reflection.  Not so long ago, it would have been dark at this hour.  Now, the sun still shines.  The days grow longer, spring slowly approaches, and our anticipation for a new season mounts.  This is good.  This is understandable.  But we should also take a moment to pause, to not let this Lenten time pass us by.  The call to repentance and renewal deserves to be heeded, to be given a prime spot in our daily lives. The days grow longer.  Let us take this as a symbol of God giving us more time to focus on Lent, to not be rushed, but to be present.

I'm tired today.  I didn't sleep well last night and before I knew it, much of today had slipped by.  Too much to do, too little time in which to do it.  Writing a reflection seemed like yet one more thing to check off a too-full to-do list.  Yet now as I write this, I know it's more.  It's a time to slow down, reflect, consider what it is I'm doing with this day with which I've been blessed by God.  "Slow down, be quiet, it's Advent" are words with which we're familiar.  "Slow down, be quiet, it's Lent" are ones we should take to heart, too.  If we don't, we'll never have a chance to figure out just what it is we need to set right with God and God's people.  And then we won't be ready for Easter.  And that would be a shame.  So, yes, I'm tired.  But at least for a few moments, when I've had to slow down, I've been able to live a bit more fully into Lent.

This coming Sunday we'll read Psalm 22 with its famous lament of abandonment, the ones echoed by Jesus from the cross.  "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" reflect a depth of despair and forlornness that is hard to comprehend, especially when coming from Jesus, who according to our Christian story knew God better than any other person in history.  What are we to do with such a cry?  Are we to surrender to the fear that if Jesus, Son of God, could feel that he was alone, then there is no hope for us?  That is one possibility.  But another path beckons.  The cry of the psalmist, and Jesus' appropriate of his words, speak to us about honesty as the basis for our relationship with God.  It is when things are dark, challenging, when we are frustrated, confused, angry, that we should not, cannot hold back in opening ourselves to God.  It is in precisely such moments that we need to let God know what is truly going on with us for in doing so we enable o

Our water was finally restored at the end of the day yesterday.  At times I wasn't sure it would happen - I spoke with a DPW representative at 8 am.  A plumber came by to modify our connection to the city water main at noon.  I was feeling optimistic.  But then ... nothing.  Nobody came to do the next part of the project.  In a sense, things were worse than before since we were now actually disconnected from the water supply.  By 4 I was frustrated.  After two days I was tired of having to leave my house to wash up or go to the bathroom.  I pulled out the phone book to call the public works office.  And then the men arrived with their machine.  An hour later, the water was flowing.  I was relieved, even happy. Though far more banal and far less important than the events that we commemorate at the end of Lent, I felt that this episode was offering me a preview of the emotions that we can experience during Holy Week and Easter.  Consider: All is normal, then things sudd

Alas, still no water.  However, on the bright side, I've been touched by the offers of hospitality that have come our way: use of bathrooms, guestrooms, houses.  And, everybody with whom I've spoken at the DPW has been unfailingly polite during what I've learned has been a very demanding few days for them.  This extends to the nice man who was out working in the fifteen degree below zero weather this morning. All too often in life we are tempted to look to the negative, to be drawn to the shadows, to complain.  This little (mis)adventure has been a reminder that there is almost always a bright side to things.  During this season of Lent, we have the opportunity to reflect on whether we're drawn to the light or to the shadows and to pray that the Spirit will guide us to the former and give us the strength to turn away from the latter.

I'm not feeling very patient right now.  The water main has frozen and we've been without water since yesterday afternoon.  All the DPW can tell me is that a crew is scheduled to work on the problem today.  That's nice, but I want my water now. As I've gotten hot and bothered about this, I've reflected on more than one occasion just how fortunate we are at the parsonage.  We have bottled water, we can go to the gym to shower, there's always the restroom at the church.  And I have no doubt the water will be restored.  We're dealing with an inconvenience.  There are people who don't have access to these fallback resources.  And around the world there are people who don't have access to running water period. While there may never be a good time for me to lose water, Lent is as good a moment as any for this to happen.  It offers an opportunity to recalibrate, to gain some perspective, to give thanks for what I have and to pray for patience a

One of the bywords of Lent is reflection.  This is a time to pray on and think about those things we have done and those things we have left undone with the goal of amending our behavior and renewing our relationship with God and God's people.  While we do this serious work of looking inwards, though, we should never lose sight of God's wider creation.  There are still people to be served, still people to befriend.  Whether it's through participating in the Community Dinner or the Sunday School Lenten Offering - or some other way - let us thank God for the opportunity to serve while we reflect.

The joke making the rounds these days is that one is giving up snow or winter for Lent.  Understandable - but that kind of misses the point.  Lenten disciplines aren't meant to be fun.  Nor - and this is even more important - are they meant to be impossible.  Instead, they should challenge us but also should also be attainable.  God is looking for us to repent - and God wants us to succeed at this.  So let's move on from giving up snow or winter for Lent and let's do something fulfilling and possible that will help us make things right with God and God's people.

When I went outside this morning I thought it was chilly but not remarkably so - just another winter's day.  Then I looked at the temperature on my car's thermometer and learned that it was just 3 degrees outside.  Clearly, I'm getting used to our Arctic conditions.  Reflecting on this, I hope and pray that I can settle into my Lenten disciplines with the same ease.  I don't want to take them for granted, but wouldn't it be wonderful if habits of reflection, repentance, and renewal could become second nature.  By the end of Lent, they might become a permanent part of my life.  Something, I can say, I do not wish for our wintry weather ...

At last night's Ash Wednesday we joined together to say a prayer of penitence.  These are good words to guide us in our Lenten journey.  I invite you to join me in reading them, reflecting on them, praying on them, and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, taking them to heart, letting them shape us, form us, and even transform us. Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.   In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us amend what we are, and direct what we shall be, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name.   Amen.

And so it begins.  Today, Christians around the world, including here in Lebanon, set out on a spiritual pilgrimage of reflection and repentance, one that leads to Easter.  As we embark on our Lenten journeys, we can do so focused on the final destination of April 5.  Or, we can go forth with open hearts and open minds, living in the moment of each day of this season.  If we do the latter, we may find ourselves being led by the Spirit to surprising new places, and in the end discover that we are better prepared for the wonder of the Resurrection.  So on this Ash Wednesday, let us pray for a holy and surprising Lent, one that takes us deeper into the life of faith and closer to the One who made us.