What are you doing for Lent?

Hi, all!

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. At noon and at 7 pm, we'll gather to hear the invitation to "the observance of a holy Lent," and we'll receive the mark of ashes on our foreheads as a mark of our mortality and penitence.

Ash Wednesday is a powerful call to repentance. Whenever I make the sign of the cross with the ashes, and say, "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return," I feel the seriousness of those words.

Being reminded that we won't live forever makes us freshly aware that our relationship with God is important, and now is the time to renew that relationship. "Create in us clean hearts, O God," Psalm 51 reminds us.

Today, the day before Ash Wednesday, is a good time for us to think about what spiritual discipline we might take up for Lent. Some people give up something for Lent, others take something on. What are you doing for Lent?

If you're looking for ideas, I might suggest you join us in reading the Gospel of John during the weekdays of Lent. We'll provide the verses to be read from the Daily Lectionary in the Prayer Book, and you can look them up in your Bible. If you have the Forward Day by Day booklet, you'll find the readings in there.

Tomorrow's reading is John 1:1-28, the beginning of the Gospel of John. You might want to find a time each day when you can open your Bible and meditate briefly on the passage from John. Each day is only a short reading, less than a chapter. The Gospel of John is written to inspire belief in Jesus as the Christ, and each day our faith will grow. From time to time I'll send an email reflecting on what we've been reading.

Whatever your spiritual practice during Lent, I hope it will build you up and increase your faith in God.

Peace,
Bill