Questions for our Lenten Journey February What does this season matter to us? How does it change
us . . .our communities, our families and neighbors?
How does it open up our understanding of ourselves, the
tasks before us, and the particular gifts, limitations, and
challenges of those who are next door, down the street,
at the edges of our own congregations and cities? In a What do our rites and rituals, our calendars and festival days, our fasts and prayers have to do with the larger world around us? These are all questions we need to reflect on, pray about and come to grips with even though there may be no answers. Lent has traditionally been understood as a season of self-denial, a solemn counterpoint to the bright and festive seasons of Christmas and Epiphany that precede it, and a fast before the feast of Easter. Many congregations are lengthening times for silence and stillness in their liturgies. In such a noisy and chaotic world, with so many people coming to church in an almost chronic state of anxiety, silence in worship is powerful. Lent is a season often imagined as a journey, echoing the
forty-day journey of Noah and his family in the flood; the
forty-year journey of the Israelites in the wilderness and
the forty-day journey of Jesus in the desert. It is a contemplative
and solemn season. May your journey be
heartfelt in your search for answers during this season of Peace, James I. Boschker, |
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