Learning about the liturgical year, processing as I blog.
The Lenten season begins Wednesday. This week I’m exploring the history and practices of Lent. Defining Lent Lent is a period of fasting, penance, and spiritual discipline in preparation for Easter, the most important Christian festival. It has been observed for over a thousand years. Origins The origins of the Lenten season are unclear. Many…
“It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but that you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Today is the first Monday of “daylight savings time.” While I don’t appreciate time change and the challenges that affect sleep, I…
Have you been on a journey through a wilderness? How would you describe it? Was it a wilderness of shame, loneliness, depression, doubt, grief, or pain? While none of us long for a walk through a wilderness – but we can expect to experience one. After all, our Master, Jesus, walked the wilderness. The servant…
In thinking about the wilderness this week, I read some of the Israelites’ story from Exodus. We can learn at least six things about their journey through the desert! One When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was…
The desert waits,Ready for those who come,Who come obedient to the Spirit’s leading;Or who are driven,Because they will not come any other way. The desert waits,Ready to let us know who we are—The place of discovery. And we fear, and rightlyThe loneliness and emptiness and harshness,We forget the angels,Whom we cannot see for our blindness,But…
John’s sermon John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. … The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and…