Kirsteen's Korner
from The Reverend Kirsteen Wilkinson
People often don’t look forward to Lent. Words like “sacrifice,” “discipline,” and “self-denial” are often used in ways that suggest that Lent is something to be endured rather than a time of grace and spiritual growth.
Have you ever thought of Lent as a yearly second chance? Each year the Church gives us six weeks to take a long, loving look at our lives to see if our values and priorities are in line with God’s desires for us. Since most of us find that we’ve wandered from God’s path, Lent becomes that second chance, or do-over, to “return to God with our whole heart.”
Lent is about preparing ourselves for the coming of God. This preparation is like a spring cleaning, letting go of all the delusions we have and the stories we tell ourselves that get in the way of our ability to see and hear God. Possessions, habits, dependencies, prejudices, self-image issues, hobbies, to-do lists…. things that separated us from the still, small voice of truth and love that is God. What things or habits or busy-ness have you filled your life with that crowd out the voice of God?
Recently, I have noticed I spend a lot of my time playing games on my iPhone. Now, in and of itself there is nothing wrong with this action, but I have found myself doing this more often than I’d care to admit. It reflecting on this, I realized that some of this time playing games could and should be spent on more productive things. For one, nurturing my relationship with God. This time spent on this habit was infringing on the intentional time I spent in the presence of God, listening to God’s voice.
For the season of Lent, I am giving up playing games on my iPhone. I am going to delete the game apps from my phone so that I won’t be tempted to access and play them. I don’t think of this as depriving myself of something as I do, but of adding something to my life. For Lent, I’m adding some time to be still and rest in the presence of God, listening to God’s voice. This could be in the form of taking walks, reading, scripture study, centering prayer, etc. It is, for me, a second chance to return to God with my whole heart.
I invite each of you to find to take this Lenten season as a ‘second chance’ to do some spring cleaning, find some time to be in the presence of God and hear that still small voice, and to nurture your relationship with God.
Lenten blessings,
Reverend Kirsteen +
You will find a list of Lenten Resources in this newsletter for you to use this Lenten Season. There will also be a Tuesday evening Lenten study class that you are invited to participate in.
