Lent Begins
On March 9, Christians everywhere will celebrate Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. The origins of Lent are murky, but by the fourth
century, the celebration of Easter had expanded from one day to a session of 50 days leading from Easter day to Pentecost. And another season
, six weeks long, had been added as a time of preparation of new members who would be baptized at Easter. And it was used by existing
members to examine their faith and reaffirm their baptismal identity.
The Lenten journey that begins with Ash Wednesday is a time to "turn around," to "change directions," to "repent." Lent reminds us that in
order to be raised to new life in Christ we must first die to our old selves. The first step in this journey is to be reminded that we are mortal. It has been the
custom of Christians for many generations to have ashes imposed on their foreheads at this time, not to show how good and faithful we are, but to remind
each other of our mortality - that we are of the dust, "and to dust we shall return."
During this Lenten journey we learn again how to give up our self - serving ways and turn instead toward giving ourselves away as diciples of Jesus.
We follow his way, the way of the cross, and we are reminded that the way of the cross involves death- the deathof our old selves, so new life might reside in us. In dying, we live.
So we use ashes to symbolize the temporary nature of our earthly lives as we journey through Lent. We explore our baptism- that we were buried with Christ in a death like his and will
surely be raised in a resurrection like his. We learn again how our baptism leads us to learn new ways of living; ways that involve letting go of our "old selves" and
embracing the new life made possible by Jesus' life, death and ressurection.
On March 9 we will gather for a simple dinner and a time of worship. We will remember our mortality and our baptism. And during the Wednesdays
of Lent we will study a great book, The Cost of Dicipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Join us for Ash Wednesday. Join us for the book. Join us for the journey.