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February 2012 Bless now, O God, the journey that all your people make, the path through noise and silence, the way of give and take. The trail is found in desert and winds the mountain round, then leads beside still waters, the road where faith is found.
Bless sojourners and pilgrims who share this winding way, whose hope burns through the terrors, whose love sustains the day. We yearn for holy freedom while often we are bound. Together we are seeking the road where faith is found.
Divine Eternal Lover, you meet us on the road. We wait for lands of promise where milk and honey flow. But waiting not for places, you meet us all around. Our covenant is written on roads, as faith is found. Sylvia G. Dunstan Evangelical Lutheran Worship #326
The words above are the lyrics of a Lenten hymn in our new hymnal. They reflect the nature of the season of Lent. Lent is a season of forty days beginning on Ash Wednesday and continuing to the Saturday before Easter. If you check your calendar and count days, you will find that this period of time spans more than forty days. This is because the Sundays are not counted as part of Lent. Every Sunday is considered a celebration of Easter, even within Lent. Though we put away “Alleluia” during Lent, Sundays still give us an opportunity to see light in the midst of the somber, contemplative season of Lent. The Forty days of Lent draw from the significance of forty in scripture. Some of the occurrences of forty are possibly familiar to you. When God sent the flood, it rained for forty days and forty nights. The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years during the Exodus. Jesus was tempted by the devil for forty days, also in the wilderness. Some instances of forty in scripture may not be so familiar. The spies sent into Canaan after the people of Israel left Egypt were there for forty days. When the people refused to listen to Joshua and Caleb and did not enter the promised land, then they were forced to wander for forty years, one year for each day the spies were in Canaan. Elijah was miraculously fortified to travel forty days from Israel to Mount Horeb. Jonah warned the people of Nineveh that they would be destroyed in forty days. As many these instances of forty arise in scripture, there is a con-nection to movement and traveling. The discipline of the season of Lent is often portrayed as a journey. The Lenten journey is one of seeking an understanding of what Jesus did for us on Good Friday and Easter. It is a journey to find who we are and how we are changed and charged by what God in Jesus Christ does for us. Please make your Lenten journey one of prayer and self-reflection. As we come to know our selves, we know our need of God and the forgiveness God offers in Jesus Christ. As the words of the hymn put it so well, as we seek Jesus, he finds us not necessarily in a specific place but most certainly in the journey. May your Lenten journey be one of blessed discovery. Pastor Bret |