Lenten Journey

 

February 29, 2012

For the last 15 years of my pastoral life, I put together some type of Lenten series – often a Sunday evening Vespers Service. These services were about 45 minutes long, consisted of simple music, the read word – I printed out the 4 lectionary texts each week and handed them out as people arrived for worship – a brief meditation on one or more of those texts and a simple service of communion.

The theme of those six services was always centered around the idea of a journey – traveling the 40 days and 6 Sundays of Lent together and arriving, repentant, refreshed and open, at Easter Sunday morning.

This year I was inspired by a blogging friend’s commitment to a daily post, a quiet reflection on her life, during each of the days of this leap year February. (Thank you, Michelle DeRusha). And I felt nudged to take on this daily devotional task as a personal Lenten discipline for 2012.

After almost a full year of re-learning how to have a devotional life outside the context of the pastoral office, I will say, that at this point – 9 days and 1 Sunday into this project –  I have been surprised and pleased at how much this daily discipline has blessed me. Others may choose to read it. If they do, I hope they catch a whiff of the Spirit while they’re here.

But, and this is a pretty big deal for me to say – even if nobody dropped by, this is proving to be a rich and provocative process for me. It has reawakened my love for the Word of God – the very thing that led me into seminary in the first place. And that alone is worth the price of admission!

To find all the posts in this series, click this sentence.